Phillip Greenall was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court for burglary.
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A BURGLAR drove off after asking the victim of his crime for directions, court heard.
The woman had come back to her smallholding after Phillip Greenall and an unidentified accomplice stole a mobile phone, two tablet computers and a video recorder and £460 from her caravan.
Greenall and the other man had also taken a bag and power tools from a barn at the 30-acre smallholding in Felindre.
A trial had been arranged for January 19 as Greenall had denied stealing the items, but the 30-year-old then pleaded guilty at Swansea Crown Court to a three-count burglary indictment. The third count was an offence of entering a barn conversion with another person at the smallholding with intent to steal therein.
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The owner of the smallholding was living in the caravan while the barn was being converted.
Prosecutor Carina Hughes said the complainant noticed the caravan was untidy when she returned there on the morning of September 19, but attributed this to her son.
A car then sped up the property, said Ms Hughes, with Greenall inside. "He asked her (the complainant) questions, and she directed him elsewhere," she said.
The complainant then spotted muddy footprints on her bed, the window of the caravan open, and items missing including a Sony video camera with irreplaceable footage of her mother on it.
In the days following, the victim noticed the same car in the area and approached the defendant, who denied he had burgled the property.
When arrested later by police, Greenall, of Solva Road, Clase, said he had entered the smallholding but only to pick up tools for another man.
Defending, David Singh said Greenall wished to apologise to the court and the victim.
Judge Peter Heywood sentenced the defendant to an 876-day jail term for the caravan burglary, with two concurrent sentences of 365 days for the other two offences.
He said Greenall's previous convictions were an aggravating factor.
"You have a bad record for dwelling house burglaries," said the judge.
Richard Youle / richard.youle@swwmedia.co.uk / @YoulePost
Read more at http://www.southwales-eveningpost.co.uk/swansea-burglar-jailed-after-stealing-from-30-acre-smallholding/story-29999844-detail/story.html#tllPuYxVYzUKIWkg.99
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