Driver caught on A5 after farmer’s truck stolen at Dolgellau livestock market

A farmer has told of the trauma of two farming accidents before his pick-up truck was stolen with equipment inside. Dylan Davies lost his brother-in-law in a fatal incident and had been involved in an accident himself the previous year. Then a thief stole his Mitsubishi Warrior truck, containing a device recording sheep movements, from Dolgellau livestock market.

: ‘I thought they were flowers’, says man caught with GBP288k cannabis crop on Anglesey The details came out in a victim impact statement at Mold Crown Court as Rikki James Lount, 32, appeared for sentencing. He was caught driving that stolen vehicle on the A5 in Welshpool on January 5.

He said he had been paid GBP100 to drive the car it but refused to answer police questions. He had pleaded guilty to receiving stolen goods and driving whilst disqualified. A judge today jailed him for a total of 14 months.

Mr Davies said in a statement that his brother-in-law had an accident while using farming machinery on February 25 last year and been killed. Police forensic experts had been on the farm for six hours and the victim’s relatives had had to endure watching them work “visually and emotionally” with his brother-in-law laying on the ground dead. The trauma of the incident had had a “profound” effect, said Mr Davies.

But six months later on August 19 last year, he himself had an accident. He had been tending sheep when he was tipped off his quad bike and suffered serious injuries including a broken neck. His wife raised the alarm and he was taken to hospital where she had to explain “over and over to doctors” what had happened.

They put Mr Davies into an induced coma for six days to save his life. His wife helped him wash, dress and walk again. By last November and December 2021 they were just recovering from their “hellish year” when his pick up truck was stolen in January 2022.

But what made matters worse was there had been an electronic sheep tag reader, recording stock movements going back years, in the Mitsubishi. He was worried about not being able to provide proof of sheep movements to the authorities. Mr Davies said: “The accused should be aware of the effect of their actions.

You never know what goes on behind closed doors.” Prosecutor Jenna Gordon told the court Mr Davies drove to the market and parked there on January 4. But at 2pm he realised his vehicle had gone.

He initially thought it had been moved “as a joke” but it had gone, with its trailer left in the car park. Equipment worth some GBP3,000 had been inside the Mitusbishi and was also missing. The following day, January 5, police spotted the Mitsubishi with another vehicle being driven “in convoy” on the A5 in Welshpool.

They found the defendant driving the Mitsubishi, which had a false registration plate from a Probation Service vehicle which had also been stolen, and that the defendant had already been disqualified from driving.

Cheryl Dudley, representing Lount, said he had had a challenging life and lost his father last year. But the judge His Honour Timothy Petts condemned the actions of Lount, of Ravensworth Road, Hyde Park, Doncaster, South Yorkshire. He said: “The loss (of the truck) caused him and his family considerable difficulties not just because of the loss of the truck and contents but it came on top of all the horrendous things that had happened to the family in the previous year or so.”

He said Lount had shown no empathy or remorse. He jailed him for 13 months for handling stolen goods and a further one month for driving whilst disqualified. He was disqualified from driving for a further 21 months on top of his current ban.

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