A THIEF with “an appalling criminal record" stole a pub landlady’s £24,000 van from outside her business.
Noel Beese, 49, drove off in Kirsty Smith’s Mitsubishi Warrior in Pontypool during the early hours of the morning.
CCTV footage captured the defendant "rummaging around" in the victim’s partner’s car, which was unlocked, at around 3.45am on August 6 last year.
Finding the keys for the Warrior, Beese then stole it.
The vehicle has never been recovered, Cardiff Crown Court was told.
Beese, who has 44 previous convictions for more than 80 offences, pleaded guilty to theft.
In a victim impact statement, Miss Smith said: “I feel vulnerable and unsafe and we’ve had to have the locks changed on the pub.
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“This vehicle was used for the day-to-day running of our business.”
Alice Sykes, prosecuting, said Beese was caught after the victim put out an appeal on Facebook by posting the CCTV footage.
A relative recognised the defendant who confronted him outside the probation office in Pontypool where he’d gone for appointment and he was subsequently arrested.
Ben Waters, representing the defendant, said his client had been suffering from an “alcohol addiction”.
His barrister added: “He’s ashamed and remorseful for what he’s done.”
Beese has only recently been released from prison for a separate conviction, the court heard.
The judge, Recorder Simon Hughes told the defendant: “It seems to me that your offending is most seriously aggravated by your previous convictions.
“You have an appalling criminal record, you are a man of 49 years of age and you have multiple offences for theft, both pre and post-dating this offence.
“This was a significant theft and the vehicle has still not been recovered.”
But, the judge added, Beese had not committed any further offence since being released from jail and was “reacting extremely well to alcoholic tag monitoring”.
The defendant, formerly of Market Street, Pontypool was jailed for 16 weeks but that sentence was suspended for two years.
He must carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and was made the subject of a 120-day alcohol abstinence and monitoring requirement.
Beese will also have to pay a £154 victim surcharge.
Before he left the dock, Recorder Hughes said to him: “I make it clear to you that this is a final and, perhaps some would say, a generous opportunity.”
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