Mikael Boukhari and Simon Dickey (Image: Dyfed-Powys Police)
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Two men who travelled from Newport to West Wales in the middle of the night to burgle golf clubs have been sentenced after police intercepted them on the road with a van full of stolen goods.
Mikael Boukhari, 45, of Dents Hill in Newport, and Simon Dickey, 38, of no fixed abode, both pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary at Swansea Crown Court on Monday.
The break-ins
Dyfed-Powys Police were alerted when the intruder alarm at Haverfordwest Golf Club was triggered at 12.30am on January 18, 2026. The pair had smashed the alarm and a glass door at the rear of the shop and forced open patio doors.
Between £200 and £500 in cash was taken along with £30,800 worth of golf equipment, including a golf simulator and clubs. Damage to the building came to around £4,000 and was described as significant, forcing the club to stop trading and giving lessons for a week.
By 12.38am the pair had already set off towards their next target. They arrived at Carmarthen Golf Club and operated there between 1.32am and 1.40am, ripping metal roll shutters from the wall with a yellow crowbar – which they left behind at the scene. A further £15,000 in golf clubs and £117 in cash were stolen, and the front door was damaged.
The pursuit
The pair left in a red Vauxhall Combo Van. Officers, already on alert following the Haverfordwest alarm, had made their way to Carmarthenshire after ANPR cameras picked up a van matching the description of one believed to be linked to the burglary.
At 1.47am the van passed officers at speed heading away from Carmarthen Golf Club. Although it had a different registration plate to the one flagged by ANPR, it was the same model – and given the time of night with very few vehicles on the road, officers pursued it.
They stopped the van on the A48 between Crosshands and Pont Abraham. Dickey was driving and Boukhari was the passenger. Both gave false names – previously reported as Richard Smythe and Michael Hale – and it was confirmed the number plate had been swapped.
Inside the van, officers found all the stolen property along with a sledgehammer and an angle grinder.
What the defendants said
Boukhari told police in interview that Dickey had picked him up with a plan to go fishing, but instead drove them along the M4 to “check a few places”. He said he didn’t want to be involved but was offered half the money. He later accepted equal responsibility for the offences.
Dickey answered “no comment” throughout his interview.
Criminal records and guilty pleas
Boukhari pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary and one count of wilfully obstructing a constable. He has 43 previous convictions for 79 offences.
Dickey pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary but denied a charge of wilfully obstructing a constable, which was subsequently dropped by the prosecution. He has 51 convictions for more than 100 offences.
Both defendants were subject to suspended sentences at the time of the burglaries.
Mitigation
Defending Boukhari, Sam Jenkins said: “He is realistic about the outcome that he faces today.”
The court heard Boukhari had fallen into debt of around £4,000 at the time of the burglaries. He organises music events for work which are “sometimes not profitable”, and following an unprofitable event he “felt the need to pay staff and security, and cover his overheads”.
Defending Dickey, Charles Archer said his client “takes full responsibility” for his actions, adding: “He is in fact bitterly disappointed he finds himself back in custody due to his own decisions.”
The court heard Dickey has a difficult history of substance misuse, though he had not relapsed into drugs at the time of the offences. The crimes followed a significant relationship breakdown.
Sentencing
Recorder Benjamin Blakemore sentenced Boukhari to two years and six months in prison, and Dickey to two years and eight months in prison.
