Man made Wales trips to steal tools

A MAN from Worcestershire made trips to mid and west Wales to break into vans and steal thousands of pounds’ worth of tools while wearing a GPS tracker ankle tag, a court heard.

- JASON EVANS Reporter [e-mail]

Aston Amos and his co-defendant Robbie Bate broke into tradesmen’s vans from Builth Wells and Brecon to Newcastle Emlyn in a series of nighttime thefts, taking tools worth around £13,000 and booking into a Welsh hotel along the way.

A judge at Swansea Crown Court described the cross-border raids as a “planned and professional” job and said there was “little more cruel” than taking the tools which honest hardworking people need to earn a living.

The court heard that in July this year Dyfed-Powys Police received a series of reports of vans being broken into and tools being stolen at locations across Powys and Carmarthenshire, with the thefts being committed on the nights of Thursday, July 17 and Thursday, July 24.

A large number of items were taken in the thefts.