Harry Williams (Image: North Wales Police)
Last Updated: 1 minute ago
A prolific offender with 55 offences on his record has been locked up for 836 days after a three-day spree in Rhosllanerchrugog that took in a shop theft, a house burglary and two stolen vehicles.
Harry Williams, 31, of Gwynant, Plas Madoc, Acrefair, Wrexham, was sentenced at Mold Crown Court after admitting theft from a shop, burglary, theft and two counts of taking a motor vehicle without consent.
Stolen taxi found by chance
The final offence came undone through pure luck. Michael Jones’ Renault Trafic taxi was taken from a street in Rhos on July 30, 2026, and police were informed.
Prosecutor Thomas Mcloughlin told the court: “It just so happened, he went to see his daughter.” When Mr Jones arrived, “by sheer coincidence he could see the vehicle was parked nearby”.
A woman was asleep inside. Mr Jones spoke briefly with her before Williams appeared and urged her to leave. Two iPhones and a wallet containing cards and cash had been removed from the vehicle. Williams was later arrested.
How the spree began
The offending started at around 11pm on July 27, 2026, at the Premier shop in Rhosllanerchrugog, where Williams was seen picking up alcohol – two bottles of wine and two Buzzballz cocktail drinks – and walking out without paying.
About an hour later he was in Wern Las, where householders challenged him. His reply was: “I think I’m in the wrong house.”
Six minutes after that, Ashley Williams was upstairs at home when his dog began barking and a Ring doorbell alert came through on his phone. He came down to find his front door open and heard a man nearby say: “I’m going to get some cocaine.”
Moments later the defendant started Mr Williams’ Peugeot and drove off. A shoulder bag holding bank cards and cash was also discovered missing from the house. The Peugeot was spotted heading towards Rhos and was later found abandoned.
Record and defence
Williams has 33 convictions for 55 offences, among them theft, aggravated vehicle taking and several house burglaries committed when he was a youth. He has been a regular in the courts since 2016, the year he received a mandatory minimum term for possessing a prohibited weapon.
Philip Tully, defending, said his client accepted custody was coming but now wanted to turn his life around.
Sentencing
Judge Simon Mills jailed Williams for 836 days – about two years and three months – and observed that the defendant is no longer in his 20s.
He told him: “It looks like you are at a watershed moment. You can change, or you can continue to appear before the courts.”
The judge said what happened next was down to Williams.
