Gang duped then robbed disabled 85-year-old man
A GANG of burglars claimed to be from social services in order to get access to the home of a disabled man, a court has heard.
While one of the gang distracted their victim, the others searched the 85-year-old man’s house, stealing hundreds of pounds.
As they fled the property they pulled weapons on the victim’s nephew who happened to arrive for a visit.
The burglary was the second raid 29-year-old Tom Joseph Connors had taken part in that day – during the first, a number of ornamental swords and a Gurkha knife were taken.
Swansea Crown Court heard both burglaries occurred on March 25 last year
That afternoon Connors and his then 17-year-old accomplice Christopher Harty broke into a house in Laleston near Bridgend after the occupants – a couple in their 80s – had popped out for an hour.
Tom Scapens, prosecuting, said the pair smashed a panel on a rear PVCU door to gain access to a utility room, then used a screwdriver to force open an internal door. Once inside the property they ransacked it, taking gold jewellery, ornamental swords, a Gurkha knife and the keys to a Mazda car which they also stole.
On the same day Connors was part of a gang of five men who targeted a house in Pangbourne Close, Nottage, Porthcawl.
The court heard it is thought three of the gang told the 85-year-old occupant of the house they were from social services, and he “buzzed” them into the property using an intercom system.
Once inside, one of the gang distracted the homeowner while the others searched his house.
Mr Scapens said while this was happening the victim’s nephew arrived on the scene – he saw a number of men he did not recognise through a ground-floor window, and as he approached the property the horn of a nearby Mercedes car was sounded.
The court heard that at this “warning” the burglars in the property fled. When challenged by the nephew, two of the men pulled weapons, including a knife, on the witness and smiled.
The Mercedes then drove away “at speed”.
However, a witness managed to note the number plate on the car, and it was given to the police.
Shortly afterwards the car was picked up driving towards Port Talbot, and an officer gave chase.
The court heard police followed the car into Briton Ferry but lost sight of it in the vicinity of the Giants Wharf travellers’ site.
When officers found the car, it had been abandoned but the engine was still warm. Inside were baseball caps, gloves and balaclavas.
When police followed the nearby path that lead to the travellers’ site they found a number of items which had been taken during the burglaries.
The court heard that further police units had joined their colleagues and officers were able to look down from the Briton Ferry bridge on to the travellers’ site, which was said to be in a “state of some confusion”, with “males running around the site” and going into various caravans.
It later emerged the Mercedes had been stolen from outside a house in Cwrt Llwyn Fedw, Morriston, two days earlier, and was running on cloned plates.
The swords and knives were recovered but the jewellery has never been found.
When they were subsequently arrested – in Harty’s case some 12 months later – they gave “no comment” interviews to police, but DNA evidence linked them to the breakins.
The prosecutor said it was not possible for the Crown to say whether Connors had been one of the men acting as a lookout in the Mercedes during the Porthcawl burglary or one of those who entered the property.
Connors, of Parc Prison, Bridgend, had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.
Harty, who is now aged 19 and therefore can be named, of Mills Moor Lane, Tipton, West Midlands, had previously pleaded guilty to one count of burglary.
Tom Worden, for Connors, said his client maintained he had been one of the men in the Mercedes and had not entered the home of the 85-year-old.
He said the defendant had taken “significant steps to rehabilitate himself” since the commission of the offence, including working as a gardener in his father’s business – a line of employment he hopes to return to after his release from the inevitable prison sentence he was facing.
The barrister added that Connors had missed much of his young son’s life due to being in prison but in the future wanted to play a “positive” role in the boy’s life.
Daniel Jones, for Harty, said since the Laleston burglary more than 18 months ago the defendant had become a father, was no longer drinking or “experimenting with illicit substances” and no longer associating with his previous peer group.
Recorder Nicholas Gareth Jones said it must have been an upsetting experience for the homeowners who found themselves victims of the break-ins.
Connors was sentenced to four years and nine months.
The defendant will serve half that period in custody before being re. leased on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
Harty was sentenced to 21 months in a young offenders’ institution, suspended for two years, and ordered him to complete 120 hours of work and a rehabilitation course.