Swansea Thief Jailed After £1,000 Six-Month Crime Spree

A 44-year-old man has been sentenced to 12 months in prison after stealing more than £1,000 worth of items from various stores across Swansea over a six-month period. 🛒

Christopher Farell, of Colwyn Avenue, Bon-y-maen, Swansea, appeared at Swansea Crown Court for multiple theft offences which occurred while he was already subject to a suspended prison sentence for a previous theft.

The court heard that on August 10 last year, Farell entered a Tesco store where he filled a trolley with several bottles of Jack Daniel’s whiskey. After checking for nearby shoppers, he wheeled the trolley into a disabled toilet, removed the items and abandoned the trolley before leaving the premises.

In a separate incident on November 15, Farell stole t-shirts from TKMaxx in Swansea, concealing them in a backpack. He returned to the same store a month later, again targeting menswear items and hiding them in a stolen backpack. The value of these goods amounted to £629.93.

On January 2 this year, Farell’s theft spree continued at Sainsbury’s in Quay Parade, Swansea, where he stole six large family-size packets of crisps, several bottles of whiskey and eight bottles of vodka, with a total value of £632.20. He was apprehended by security staff, to whom he admitted having pliers in his possession.

Prosecutor Ryan Bowen told the court: “The defendant’s offending is repetitious.”

The court heard that Farell had 31 previous convictions for 106 offences, 79 of which were theft-related. On June 11, 2024, he had received a four-month suspended prison sentence for stealing over £600 worth of goods from a garden centre.

Giles Hayes, representing Farell, said his client had maintained a drug-free and stable lifestyle for ten years between 2012 and 2022. The court was also informed that Farell’s brother had died since he was taken into custody, and that he had experienced a “significant change of heart while in custody.”

Judge Huw Rees described Farell as a “prolific offender” who stole to fund his heroin and crack cocaine habit. The judge noted that Farell’s “current offences fit into a well established pattern” before sentencing him to eight months concurrent for each count of theft, plus four months consecutively for breaching his suspended sentence.