Chef given second chance stole again

A PUB chef with an “extensive” criminal record repaid the trust his employer had shown in him by stealing thousands of pounds from the business, a court has heard.

An intoxicated Richard Wakefield let himself into the bar in the dead of night and took “at least” £5,200 from the tills and safe.

Swansea Crown Court heard the 49-year-old has previous convictions for 181 offences on his record, and has now given up alcohol.

Jim Davis, prosecuting, said when staff at the Aubrey Arms pub in Ystradgynlais reported for work on March 5 last year they found the tills were empty and money had gone from the safe.

CCTV from the previous day was checked, when the bar had been closed, and from the Sunday. The footage showed a person colleagues recognised as Wakefield outside the premises in the early hours, and also behind the bar helping himself to drinks. “At least” £5,200 in cash was missing.

The defendant was arrested on March 7 and denied being responsible, saying he had been in bed at home at the time. He maintained his innocence until February this year, when he entered guilty pleas.

In a brief impact statement read by the prosecutor, the landlord of the Aubrey said he had known about Wakefield’s criminal past and his addiction to alcohol but had given him a “second chance” and now felt “betrayed” by his actions.

Wakefield, of Clare Road, Ystalyfera, had previously pleaded guilty to burglary and theft when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.

The court heard he has an “extensive” criminal record comprising 58 convictions for 181 offences, including a dozen for house and non-dwelling burglaries.

At the time of the pub burglary, Wakefield was subject to a suspended sentence for theft from a dwelling and making false representations for gain.

Lawrence Jones, for Wakefield, said in the 18 months since the offending the defendant had “become a man of sobriety”, had moved in with his parents, and was living “a more stable life”. He said his client “never wishes to return” to his past life of alcohol abuse and offending, and had committed no further offences since March 2019.

The barrister said Wakefield was ashamed, and was remorseful at having wasted the opportunity the owner had given him.

Judge Geraint Walters told the defendant he was guilty of “shameful” behaviour against people who were just trying to serve the community and “make an honest crust”, and people who had given him a chance when most would not have.

He said when he had first read the case papers he could not see a way that Wakefield could avoid immediate prison but, because of the progress the defendant had made, his lack of recent offending, and “primarily” because of the delay in the matter coming to court, he was prepared to suspend the sentence.

Giving the defendant a 20 per cent discount for his guilty pleas, the judge sentenced him to nine months in prison, suspended for two years, and made him subject to a nightly curfew for the next six months. Rather than activating the previously imposed suspended jail sentence, Judge Walters fined Wakefield £200 for breaching it.