The men had loaded up over a dozen bags with clamps and clips from the locked building site in Rhyl

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A "career burglar" enlisted the help of two others to swipe scaffolding parts from a building site in Rhyl. Their plan quickly unravelled when a security officer spotted what they were doing.

Saeed Jones, of Sisson Street in Rhyl, appeared at Mold Crown Court alongside Solomon Neapsey, of Gwynfryn Avenue, and Keelan Woods, of St Davids Square. All three admitted attempting to steal.

Prosecuting, Maria Masellis told the court that an alarm was set off late at night on July 28, 2020, at an Anwyl building site on East Parade in Rhyl. Shortly after 11.20pm, a security guard arrived on site to investigate.

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There, she found the chain used to secure the gates had been cut open. A group of hooded men - Jones, Neapsey and Woods - armed with tools were spotted beside a flatbed van they had parked nearby and were loading it up with bags.

At first, the men ignored the woman when she asked what they were up to. However, when they realised she was a security guard, they dropped their bags and drove away at speed into the town centre, the court heard, but not before the quick-thinking guard took a photo of the vehicle that caught their number plate.

Police attended the building site and recovered a total of 16 bags filled with "scaffolding clamps and clips" used to hold structures together, said Ms Masellis. The metal pieces were roughly valued at £290.

The court heard that filing the bags up would have taken "some time", according to a statement from the security officer. Those bags were "covered" in Jones' fingerprints, forensic analysis confirmed.

The van was registered to a fourth man, but he was later eliminated from police suspicion about being involved in the theft attempt. He explained that Jones, 33, had asked to borrow the vehicle and didn't suspect it was to be used for crime.

Jones was swiftly found and arrested on September 4, the court heard. During his time in custody, two mobile phones were recovered from his home that contained text messages pointing the police towards Neapsey, 31, and Woods, 36, being the other men involved.

Duncan Bould, defending Jones, told the court that his client was "well aware" the he's likely to go to prison for this, due to his poor criminal record, and came to court prepared with a bag packed. However, he asked that the judge considered keeping the sentence as low as possible for the sake of the seven children he had depending upon him at home.

The judge branded Jones a "career burglar" who had carried out 13 burglary offences over the last 20 years. He was jailed for eight months.

The judge said: "What you have admitted is professional, pre-planned criminality. Sourcing a lorry and considerable amount of bags, as well as a bolt cutter, this was in no way an opportunistic crime."

Both Simon Kileen, representing Neapsey, and Ryan Rothwell, on behalf of Woods, made no submissions to the judge. They each agreed that the men were prepared to accept the recommended probation service punishment that meant avoiding jail.

Neapsey must complete 200 hours of unpaid work as his four-month sentence was suspended for two years. Likewise, Woods will follow a year-long community order that includes 100 hours of unpaid work.

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