Jailed for destructive break-in as senior detective and his family slept: P9
ABURGLAR broke into a senior detective’s house while he and his family slept.
Gethin Williams, 50, got into the home of North Wales Police superintendent Iestyn Davies and rifled through the house, stealing around £4,000 worth of belongings.
When the family were alerted to something going on by the sound of their puppy’s yelps from downstairs, they found a trail of mess left behind by the intruder.
Food had been eaten from their fridge, and even Mr Davies’ sandwiches for the next day at work had been taken.
When Williams was arrested and interviewed, he became aggressive and argumentative. He referred to the occupants of the house as ‘pigs’ and “made clear his hatred and disdain of the police and presented as amused at what happened”, prosecutor Anna Pope told Caernarfon crown court.
Among the belongings taken was Mr Davies’ daughter’s laptop containing her university work.
That, along with most of the other goods including optometry equipment, clothing, cash, handbags and purses and items taken from two cars parked outside, were retrieved from a camper van on a new age travellers site where Williams had been staying.
Most of it was found in the family’s wheelbarrow, which the thief had taken as well, along with a ‘burglar’s kit’ including gloves and tools.
The same night as the burglary, Williams stole from unlocked cars on a caravan site, making off with a drone worth £633 that belonged to a holidaymaker.
In an impact statement Supt Davies, a policeman for 30 years, said he would not forget the distraught look on the face of his daughter when she realised her laptop had been stolen.
His family was resilient but what happened had a profound effect on their feelings of security.
Paulinus Barnes, defending, said Williams accepted involvement but denied emphatically that the house was targeted because it was a police officer’s.
According to Williams it was opportunistic rather than planned and he wished to apologise to the family.
“He feels terrible about what he’s done,” Mr Barnes said.
Williams pleaded guilty to the burglary, to three thefts from cars that night and to two charges of criminal damage, including to a police car.
Judge Rees told Williams he’d caused great distress, particularly to the daughter whose university progress could have been affected by the loss of the laptop. He added: “In your police i interview you made unnecessary and derogatory comments about Iestyn Davies and the police in general. “You are 50 with a long list of previous convictions for offences mainly of dishonesty. “A family’s home had been ransacked and soiled and there had been a significant degree of planning, and there was evidence that the burglary had been committed when he was under the influence of drugs.”
He gave Williams, formerly of Waunfawr, a ten-year restraining order not to contact the family and not to be within 400 yards of their home.
The judge said: “You have been for a long time a thoroughly dishonest man.”
Earlier this week a second man was cleared of involvement by a jury.
Williams was jailed for three years and ten months.