Swansea Crown Court hears harrowing details after a young father was stabbed in the neck in broad daylight with a broken bottle
A young father bled to death in the middle of a Swansea street as passers-by watched in horror and a desperate delivery driver fought to save him. The tragic death of 27-year-old Joshua Norman unfolded in broad daylight on Cwm Road, exposing the raw violence that continues to plague parts of the city.
In moving testimony at Swansea Crown Court, delivery driver Sasindu Pinto described arriving at the scene to find Norman gasping for air, his throat slashed and blood soaking his chest. Pinto knelt beside the wounded man, trying in vain to save him as others rushed forward to perform frantic chest compressions.
Norman had been stabbed in the neck with a broken cider bottle, the court heard, following a reported altercation involving two men—Paul Rosser, 49, and his nephew, Joshua Cullen, 34—both now standing trial for murder. The prosecution alleges the pair acted in a joint enterprise, with Rosser inflicting the fatal wound and Cullen encouraging or assisting the attack. Both men deny charges of murder and manslaughter.
Witnesses painted a harrowing picture of the attack, which erupted without warning on a typically busy road lined with homes. Norman, bleeding heavily, was seen desperately waving a tree branch in a futile effort to defend himself. “He looked terrified,” one local resident told the court. “There was blood everywhere. It was pure chaos.”
Despite the shocking nature of the assault, some residents initially ignored the commotion. Locals testified that they were so used to noise and disruption on Cwm Road—a street increasingly known for drugs and violence—that they assumed it was “just another fight.” But when the truth became clear, it stunned even those hardened to daily disorder.
One neighbour, her voice trembling as she gave evidence, described seeing Norman collapse just metres from her doorstep. “There was screaming, and then silence. People tried to help, but he was already slipping away.”
The prosecution claims the killing came after a day of drug-fuelled disorder. The defendants, prosecutors allege, became embroiled in escalating chaos that culminated in the savage stabbing. Witnesses said that after the attack, Rosser and Cullen casually walked away, leaving Norman bleeding to death on the pavement.
Emergency services arrived within minutes, but Norman was pronounced dead at the scene. The delivery driver who had attempted CPR remained with the body, visibly shaken.
Swansea Crown Court heard that Rosser and Cullen were arrested shortly after and gave conflicting accounts in police interviews. CCTV footage, forensic evidence, and eyewitness testimonies are now being presented in court, with the trial expected to last several weeks.
The case has sent shockwaves through the local community. Residents of Cwm Road and surrounding streets say the murder has forced a long-overdue reckoning with the area’s deep-rooted problems. “This wasn’t just a tragedy—it was inevitable,” said one neighbour, who asked not to be named. “Everyone here has been crying out for help. Drugs, violence, no police presence. It’s like we’ve been left to fend for ourselves.”
As the trial unfolds, attention is turning to the wider issues raised by Norman’s brutal death. Community leaders are demanding urgent action from authorities to tackle antisocial behaviour, addiction, and poverty that continue to fester in the heart of Welsh towns.
For now, Swansea mourns a young father taken too soon, and a jury must decide whether the two men in the dock were responsible for the horror that unfolded that day on Cwm Road.
