Man jailed for four years for stealing caravans

When a gang of criminals towed away a caravan they also stole a man's home, a judge was told at Caernarfon crown court.

As well as losing his £8,000 home on land at Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Idris Williams found the property inside, some of it sentimental, had also disappeared, and it cost £10,000 to get another caravan.

Jailing Darren Douglas, 35, for four years, Mr Recorder Peter Griffiths QC said he was part of a gang of criminals who had targeted caravans and spirited them away.

Douglas, of Heol Mabon, Penycae, Wrexham, pleaded guilty to theft of three caravans, with a value of more than £30,000, from Bangor and Penrhyndeudraeth in Gwynedd, and Trelawnyd in Flintshire.

The judge said the worst impact had been on Mr Williams, who prosecutor Richard Edwards said had returned home from visiting his daughter to find the caravan had gone.

A defence lawyer told the judge that Douglas maintained his role had been that of the driver. The other men have not been caught.