A BURGLAR jailed for stealing "high value" clothes and trainers has just inherited £170,000.
Newport Crown Court heard how the newly prosperous Kai Jones, 47, used power tools to break into Ystrad Headshop on Ystrad Mynach’s Penallta Road.
Although the shop sells vapes it also has clothing and footwear stock which is sold online.
Alice Sykes, prosecuting, said Jones was identified raiding the store and taking away goods worth £8,479 after detectives looked through CCTV footage capturing the break-in.
Power tools and a screwdriver were recovered by police from a Saab car the defendant had access to.
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“This wasn’t a sophisticated matter but it was planned,” Miss Sykes added.
Jones, of Derwen Close, Ystrad Mynach, pleaded guilty to committing the burglary on October 13.
He has 47 previous convictions for 22 offences, including burglary and theft.
Tabitha Walker representing the defendant said her client, a father-of-three formerly on income support, has just inherited £170,000.
He will be able to access the money "in a matter of days".
She told the court Jones was planning to buy a plot of land off the A470 road where he would set up a fast food business selling from a burger van.
Miss Walker said: “The defendant’s mother has terminal lung cancer.
“He is keen to engage with probation, turn his life around and provide for his family.”
His barrister added: “He wishes to apologise to the court and to the business owners for his offending.”
Judge Carl Harrison was urged to pass a suspended prison sentence but he told Jones there was “no prospect of rehabilitation” in his case.
The defendant was jailed for 30 weeks of which he will serve half in custody before being released on licence.
He must return to court on Friday, December 22, where Judge Harrison will decide on the amount of compensation Jones will pay to the owners of Ystrad Headshop for the loss of their stock and the damage caused during the break-in.
The defendant will also have to pay a £187 victim surcharge once he is release from prison.
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