Zip World burglars claimed they were sightseers... at night
TWO burglars were caught red-handed as one ransacked Zip World while the other waited in the car.
Ex-soldier Ben Robert and Anthony Farrell, who appeared at Caernarfon Crown Court last Wednesday, admitted the burglary at the Bethesda attraction on August 10 last year.
Robert, 23, of Caradog Place, Llanfairfechan was jailed for two years.
Farrell, 36, of Garth Wen, Llanfairfechan, who was also charged with taking a vehicle without consent and driving without insurance, was sentenced to 12 months.
Jailing the pair, Judge Huw Rees, said: “You travelled together to the location – that was a journey with a purpose.
“I entirely reject any assertion that you had met up to enjoy the views of Betws-y-Coed and the Ogwen Valley at that time of night.
“This was a planned exercise to commit burglary.”
Prosecutor Ryan Rothwell told the court more than £1,400 of damage had been caused in the burglary that had left staff “continuously on edge thinking the defendants were going to come back.”
He said shortly before 2am, police received reports of an intruder alarm at the tourist attraction. When officers went in and found Robert in the staff kitchen, the court heard he darted out of a broken window and ran off.
Police chased the defendant and he was arrested at the scene where a tool bag, various tools and a head torch were seized. An iPad and GoPro cameras worth a total of £420 were also recovered.
Farrell, caught waiting for Robert in a Vauxhall Astra on the side of the road, was also arrested. A search of the car, that Farrell had taken from his dad without consent or insurance, found a rucksack with tools stolen from Zip World.
Mr Rothwell, who read a victim impact statement by Helen Cook, a manager at Zip World, said: “There was a massive shock not only to her but to all the employees of Zip World.
“They were unable to operate the morning after and there was financial loss.”
The court heard Robert, who was under the influence of drugs at the time, was the subject of a suspended sentence from 2018 for dangerous driving, driving whilst disqualified and driving without insurance.
Representing himself, he expressed his remorse for the offence, and told the judge he felt “terrible” about his actions.
He claimed he is today a “changed person” since the burglary.
Jonathan Austin, defending Farrell, said he accepted there had been an element of planning, but argued the defendant, with no previous convictions, had acted with a “sense of impulsiveness.’
Mr Austin said: “It wasn’t well planned. It seemed doomed to fail.”