Burglars who stole £500k worth of jewellery must pay back £1
MEMBERS of a family who carried out scores of burglaries which netted £500,000 worth of jewellery and other items have no assets which can be found, a court has heard.
As a result each has now been ordered to pay back just £1 – and been given 28 days to cough up the cash.
Over a six-month period brothers Keiran, Patrick, Daniel, William and David Joyce, along with their brother-in-law Daniel Casey, conspired together to raid homes across Llanelli, Swansea, the Swansea Valley, Neath, the Afan Valley, Port Talbot, Porthcawl and Maesteg.
It is estimated the jewellery they stole could be worth up to £500,000 but very little of it has ever been recovered. The whereabouts of the items remain unknown.
Between July 2018 and January 2019 Keiran Joyce, 29, of Mynells Gorse travellers site, Golf Course Lane, Leicester; Patrick Joyce, 22, of HMP Onley, Northamptonshire; William Joyce, 24, formerly of Mill Stream Way, Swansea Vale, but now of HMP Swansea; Daniel Joseph Joyce, 35, of Mill Stream Way, and David Joyce, who can now be named for the first time having turned 18, of Mill Stream Way, raided dozens of homes.
All were convicted of conspiracy to commit burglary following a lengthy trial at Swansea Crown Court last November and December.
Their brother-in-law, 28-year-old Daniel Casey, of Mynells Gorse travellers site, pleaded guilty to the same offence in March having been arrested by Leicestershire Police following a lengthy period on the run. He was later jailed for six years.
Two other defendants were convicted of handling stolen goods: Mary Kate Connors, 24, of Rhossilly Avenue, Rumney, Cardiff, and the Joyce brothers’ mother Christine Joyce, 60, of Mill Stream Way, Swansea Vale.
The trial followed a predawn police raid on the Swansea Vale travellers site in January last year as part of Operation Timmia, a probe into a huge number of burglaries across South Wales.
The case returned to Swansea Crown Court to consider applications for confiscation orders under Proceeds of Crime Act (Poca) powers and applications for serious crime prevention orders (SCPOs).
Applying for the Poca orders, Ian Wright said the conspirators had “targeted high-value jewellery they could convert to cash”, adding: “These defendants dissipated the cash they made during the conspiracy.”
The barrister said Keiran Joyce had benefited from his criminal conduct by some £375,655 – but the authorities have been unable to find any assets and he was ordered to pay just £1. The defendant has been served with a deportation notice and could be sent back to the
Republic of Ireland and banned from returning to the UK.
The gains of Patrick Joyce and Daniel Casey were put at £110,157 and £375,655 respectively. Again no assets can be found and they too were made the subject of a £1 confiscation order.
The only money or assets investigators were able to find for Daniel Joyce was £100 he was carrying when arrested.
Judge Keith Thomas made a confiscation order for that amount.
The prosecutor said the benefit figure for William Joyce was £176,274. In his case assets were identified and a confiscation order for £15,400 was made. He has three months to pay.
In addition to the Poca confiscation orders, the judge made SCPOs in relation to Daniel, Keiran, Patrick and William Joyce, and Daniel Casey.