Chester Crown Court judge jails Wrexham man for 40 months
Jack McGuire, 29, of Holborn Crescent in Brynteg, near Wrexham, was sentenced to 40 months at Chester Crown Court on Friday, May 2, for stealing the Audi S5 belonging to Brett Hoare from a property in Willaston, in Wirral.
He was given two years, to run concurrently, for stealing items from a safe at the same property in Willaston, including expensive watches, jewellery and items of sentimental value belonging to deceased family members.
A third charge, of trespassing on a property in Burton Road, Neston, with intent to steal, also brought a concurrent two-year sentence.
Judge Simon Berkson heard that at about 9.20pm on June 19, 2024, homeowner Linda Halton reported someone trying to break into her house as she was in the bathroom when she saw a silhouette outside.
Judge Berkson was told that in Willaston, the Audi was taken while the owners were on holiday, with the keys recovered by McGuire after the rear patio doors were broken, and the alarm smashed up allowing access to the safe, which he then threw down the stairs.
In it, he was able to take large amounts of jewellery, plus high-class watches and 'irreplaceable and sentimental' bracelets.
The prosecution added the safe was found abandoned at Port Sunlight Sailing Club with McGuire's DNA on it and that the Hoare property was further damaged by the safe.
The car was recovered around a month later in North Wales with different plates.
A victim impact statement from Mr Hoare was read to the court, stating his family had to 'cut short a dream holiday'.
He added: 'It has tarnished our love for the house as we don't feel safe.
'We are now generally distrustful of people, and we worry when we're not in the property.
'We have increased our security but can never be sure it won't happen again.
'Our family have lost sentimental items in this robbery that will never be recovered, and we've also been left out of pocket.'
The court heard that the defendant was currently serving 36 months for similar offences in Stockport and Manchester, which he carried out a month after these burglaries.
Judge Berkson was told that had McGuire 'been sentenced for these offences before the ones he has already been jailed for in January, he would have only received a slightly extended sentence.
His barrister added: 'He is a member of the travelling community, and he faces continuous prejudice, though that doesn't excuse his offending.'
A letter to the court showed that McGuire was close to his father who died and he is still recovering from an 'incredibly difficult' experience in not being allowed to visit his father before he died or attend the funeral.
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He added that he now wants to change his offending ways and be a father to his three children and that while there might be 'an eyebrow raised' regarding rehabilitation, 'it has to start somewhere'.
Judge Berkson, sentencing him, said: 'You came with at least one other person from North Wales to Wirral where you attempted to burgle the home address of a person who was present.
'It became clear that on that day you entered another property in Willaston, where you took an Audi S5.
'But while the people who live there were away, a huge amount of items were stolen – expensive watches, jewellery, sentimental items and some worth a lot of money.
'You didn't care about that and that house was also damaged.'
McGuire was told he would serve this sentence concurrently to his 36-month custody – adding four months – and will be released on licence halfway through.
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