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POLICE SEIZE WELSH DRAGON,  MARI LWYD & BUCKET IN SENEDD PROTEST CRACKDOWN
CARDIFF BAY — 15 October 2026 — Visuals capturing the moment police officers carried away a large Welsh dragon and a traditional Mari Lwyd folk prop have sparked widespread outrage over the right to peaceful expression in Wales.

The incident occurred outside the Senedd in Cardiff Bay during a demonstration. Eyewitnesses confirmed that despite a completely peaceful gathering, South Wales Police enforced a Section 14 Public Order Act notice to clear the area as demonstrators chanted “Not my King”.

When peaceful demonstrator Leigh Cadno stood his ground, police moved in to make an arrest. However, rather than simply detaining the individual, officers proceeded to confiscate and effectively “arrest” the cultural icons being used in the demonstration—a large red Welsh dragon prop and a traditional Mari Lwyd mop-horse.

Photographs and video footage from the scene show officers clutching the ribboned folk figure and the iconic red dragon, carting them off to a waiting police van alongside the human detainee. Activists are sharing the striking images across social media to highlight what they describe as a ridiculous escalation and a direct stifling of peaceful, creative expression on the Senedd estate also expressing disapproval of the censorship of the National Poem of Wales whose words were deemed to sensitive for the king and the political stage. 

Said Leigh following his arrest: ‘The image of South Wales Police arresting a Welsh dragon and a Mari Lwyd outside our own national parliament tells you everything you need to know about the current state of protest rights. There was absolutely no disorder, no threat, and no breach of the peace. These are ancient, celebrated symbols of Welsh identity and culture. To see them hauled into the back of a police van under Section 14 powers is both farcical and deeply alarming. I am proud to uphold these rights. To be Cymru is to resist oppression. It is how we are. Yma o hyd’
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We will protest with a passion which is born in pain
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