Man sentenced for theft of £80,000 candelabra from Merthyr Tydfil's Cyfarthfa Castle
A man has been sentenced after pleading guilty to theft of a candelabra from Cyfarthfa Castle in Merthyr Tydfil in April.
Henry Tyson Wilsher, 31, from Bagworth, Leicestershire was sentenced to 32 months at Teeside Crown Court on Thursday. He pleaded guilty to theft, receiving stolen good and criminal damage.
The candelabra, which dated back to the time when the castle was owned by the Crawshay family, was taken from a display at the museum on 8 April.
South Wales Police said that, on the evening of 24 March, a delivery driver had parked his silver Ford car while he briefly left it to make a delivery, but left the car running with the keys still in the ignition. At some point after the theft of the car, Wilsher ended up in possession of it.
On 8 April, Wilsher entered the castle during an event where local primary school children were presenting their projects to judges and guests.
He talked to the receptionist, before making his way to the Crawshay Room, smashing the glass of a display cabinet using a brick and stealing the candelabra, which has a value of around £80,000.
Merthyr Tydfil Council leader Brent Carter previously told ITV Wales of the "frightening" incident: "It was awful. There were sixty school children here from Cyfarthfa Park Primary.
"They were here enjoying themselves, looking around the museum, and a gentleman came in, picked a house brick out of his pocket, and smashed the casing, tore back the glass and stole the candelabra."
Wilsher then fled in the silver Ford Fiesta. South Wales Police then launched an appeal to try and find him.
Seargent Watts of South Wales Police said: 'This was a brazen theft in broad daylight, that left a group of school children shocked and upset.
"Through the work of the investigation team, we were able to identify Tyson Wilsher and bring him to justice, Wilsher's actions show he believed he was above the law and didn't care about how his actions impacted the venue. I'm pleased to see the sentence determined by the courts.'
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