Burglar jailed after stealing car and setting it on fire

A serial burglar who broke into a couple’s home, stole their car keys, and drove off in their Audi A4 before crashing and setting it alight has been jailed for more than three years.

Adam Edwards, 37, of no fixed abode, attempted to burgle two houses in Nelson, Caerphilly, on November 15 last year before finding a third property with an unlocked door. The homeowner spotted him on doorbell footage as he tested the door at 11.22pm, closing it to gauge for a reaction before returning minutes later to enter the property.

The theft and crash

Edwards took a set of keys from inside the home and drove off in the victims’ Audi A4. At 2.30am, CCTV captured the moment he crashed the vehicle on the A470, causing extensive damage. The car flipped and rotated several times before coming to rest 30 metres up the road.

A witness in a campervan saw a can of alcohol by the driver’s side window and noticed Edwards appeared intoxicated. The defendant banged on the campervan door asking for a lighter.

When told they didn’t have one, Edwards responded: “That’s just cost me £45,000, I need to put it off the road or burn it”.

Setting the car ablaze

Prosecutor Jason Howells told Cardiff Crown Court that Edwards managed to set alight to the front passenger seat, which spread until the car was completely burnt out by the time emergency services arrived. He was found lying in a nearby ditch after he coughed, and was arrested. Edwards claimed he was the passenger of the vehicle.

Previous convictions and impact

The court heard Edwards has 16 previous convictions, including numerous burglary offences. The car’s owners were left £2,350 out of pocket, with items including sunglasses and AirPods worth more than £100 each also destroyed.

Mitigation and sentencing

Defence barrister Harriet Ealden explained her client had not been in trouble for several years and had been abstinent from drugs and alcohol, but became homeless after being evicted. He fell back in with negative associations and resumed drug use.

Edwards has been diagnosed with PTSD due to his time in the armed forces, as well as ADHD, OCD, depression and anxiety.

Sentencing, Judge Shomon Khan told Edwards his victims felt “unsafe in their own home” and were “fearful of what happens next”.

Edwards pleaded guilty to burglary, attempted burglary, aggravated vehicle taking, and arson. He was sentenced to three years and four months imprisonment, and disqualified from driving for 44 months following his release from prison.