Men sentenced for burglaries of homes in Ammanford area

FOUR criminals who travelled from Swansea on two consecutive nights to burgle homes in the Ammanford area have been jailed.

Ricky David Jenkins, aged 34, of Rhodfa'r Brain, Fforestfach, Keith Martin Goodenough, aged 58, of Heol Emrys, Penlan, Dean Michael Clement, aged 44, of no fixed abode, and Simon Lee Griffiths, aged 46, of Penderry Road, Penlan, pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary and one of attempted burglary in the Ammanford area on Monday and Tuesday, 3 and 4 January.

They were promptly arrested, charged and have been on remand since.

In the early hours of 4 January, a resident contacted Dyfed-Powys Police to report his house in Gate Road, Penygroes, had just been broken into and property stolen, including an iPad, a Samsung phone, a Huawei phone, two bank cards and a silver bracelet.

Whilst officers were at the address, colleagues have come through to say three males had been seen running from the area.

Officers located a vehicle, where Jenkins and Goodenough were found and arrested, and following an area search, Clement joined them in custody.

At the time, police had been dealing with a further report of burglary the night before, in the early hours of 3 January, this time in the nearby Milo area.

The burglary in Milo saw bank cards stolen, with transactions at garages in the area totalling more than £260.

During house-to-house enquiries officers spoke with another resident, who had a Ring doorbell camera, and from those enquiries officers discovered the men had attempted to get into a third home.

Officers working on the burglaries soon linked them, and with the support of ANPR cameras, Ring doorbell cameras and good investigative work, were able to identify a fourth man, Griffiths, who was arrested on Thursday, 6 January.

All four pleaded not guilty at their first hearings at Llanelli Magistrates Court on 6 and 7 January.

However, at their first crown court appearance a month later, they all changed their pleas to guilty.

DS Rebecca Thomas said: “These men travelled into our force area to break into people’s homes and steal their hard-earned goods for personal gain.

“They initially denied being involved but when faced with the evidence our investigators had pulled together, with help from people with Ring doorbell cameras, they changed their pleas to guilty.

“We hope this sentence brings some solace to the victims following what must have been a distressing incident for them.”

They appeared at Swansea Crown Court this morning when Clement was sentenced to 50 months imprisonment, Goodenough was sentenced to 32 months, Jenkins received 54 months imprisonment and Griffiths was sentenced to 45 months.