Burglar jailed after ransacking Swansea home and stealing mementoes

A burglar who smashed his way into a Townhill home and “made himself at home” while the owner was away has been jailed for 20 months. 🏠⚖️

Daniel Allen, 38, broke into the property on Gomer Road in the early hours of 28 August, trashing the house whilst drinking cans and bottles of alcohol he had brought with him, as well as the victim’s bottle of sherry.

Swansea Crown Court heard how Allen ransacked the home, upturning furniture and strewing clothes and possessions across the floor. He stole a haul of items including laptops, trainers, aftershave, jewellery, and irreplaceable objects of huge sentimental value—a decanter and lamps that had been left to the victim by his late mother.

A neighbour alerted police after spotting a smashed window and blood on the wall at the property. When the homeowner returned, he discovered the extent of the damage and theft. Scenes of crime investigators matched DNA from blood samples at the scene to Allen, who was arrested on 12 November.

When cautioned, Allen told officers: “I don’t know what you are talking about, mate.” He then answered “no comment” to all questions in interview.

In a victim statement read to the court, the homeowner said the intruder had “made himself at home” in his property and he felt his personal space had been violated. He said: “Although he was living on benefits and had limited means he was proud of his home and his ‘stuff’, and he said some of the items taken and never recovered had belonged to his mother and were irreplaceable.”

Allen, of Baptist Well Street, Waun Wen, Swansea, pleaded guilty to burglary. He has 37 previous convictions for 76 offences, with around 50 relating to theft and similar matters. The court heard he has been jailed for 17 shoplifting offences this year alone.

Dan Griffiths, defending, said a custodial sentence was inevitable and told the court that addiction to Class A drugs and excessive alcohol consumption had blighted Allen’s adult life and been the “driver” for his offending. He added: “The reality is his client is ‘simply unable to cope in the community, and the best place for him for the foreseeable future would be the structured environment of a custodial setting’.”

Allen refused to attend his sentencing hearing, with Mr Griffiths saying even if given another chance to attend on a subsequent date, he did not think his client would.

Judge Vanessa Francis said it was clear Allen’s life was blighted by drink and drugs, but added that he was “in turn blighting the lives of others by his actions”. She said she had not been invited to consider suspending the custodial sentence, and even if she had been, given the defendant’s “abject failure” to comply with court orders in the past, an immediate custodial sentence was the only option.

With a one-third discount for his guilty plea, Allen was sentenced to 20 months in prison. He will serve no more than half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.