Man jailed after stealing from till

A CARDIFF man on holiday in Tenby forcibly stole money from a cash register after distracting the supermarket assistant by asking her to change his coins.

Daniel Luker carried out a burglary at Londis store in the Pembrokeshire town on July 29 when he approached 21-year-old shop assistant Ella Hartley at the till.

The 36-year-old, of Marlborough Road, Roath, Cardiff, asked her if she would change 83p of coins for him but urged her to carry on serving waiting customers in the meantime.

When she went to hand the coins to him, he leaned over and made a grab for £5 notes in the till, stealing £165 in the process, Swansea Crown Court heard.

Miss Hartley attempted to prevent him from taking the notes but he outmuscled her.

Police looked at CCTV of the incident and Luker was later located at a hotel where he was believed to be intoxicated.

Two days earlier, on July 27, Luker had entered Jago in Tudor Square in Tenby and took a Superdry jacket worth £54 from a display in the shop window.

He was seen doing so and police were called. They found the sale tag outside the store and later tracked down Luker, who had the jacket.

He was interviewed the following day and made a no comment interview but later pleaded guilty to counts of theft and burglary.

Mitigating, Lee Davies said: “The defendant hails from the Cardiff area and was in Tenby visiting friends holidaying there.

“His life has been plagued with addiction, particularly alcohol. He met some men and took drugs with them that day.

“He entirely accepts and understands the upset caused to Miss Hartley and the impact on her personally. He says he is very sorry for the offences.”

Luker was jailed for a total of 32 weeks.