TWO unemployed bungling thieves who stole from work vehicles in a secluded woodland near Lampeter managed to flee the scene while leaving behind their getaway car and a shoe.

Steven John Hunt, of Goedwig, 5 Bro Silin, Cribyn, and Mark Anthony Mills of Bryn Teifi, Cellan, near Lampeter, were described by their own defence solicitor as “foolish”.

Alison Mathias told Aberystwyth Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday that 28-year-old Hunt and Mills, 31, admitted stealing tools, a CD player and CB radios from the cab of a truck belonging to Elwyn Biddulph during the theft at Clywedog plantation in Sarn Helen on Saturday, 4 February, at around 5.30pm.

The pair, who pleaded guilty, were charged together for the offence, suggesting an element of “pre-planning” prosecutor Kevin Challinor told the court.

Ms Mathias dismissed the idea saying if it was, it was “very bad pre-planning”.

“It was not a very well thought through plan,” she said. “They left a shoe and a car there.

“It was a foolish act.”

The court heard that Mr Biddulph had returned to the woodland to retrieve his wallet and mobile phone.

When he arrived he noticed a Vauxhall Astra car at the entrance, and two men on the site that shouldn’t have been there.

Mr Biddulph blocked the car in with his vehicle and chased the pair away before phoning the police.

In the chase, Hunt lost his shoe.

When police arrived, a quick check of the Astra showed it was registered to Hunt.

While Mills turned himself in at the police station, Hunt was found by police at Bronglais Hospital after he had “suffered injuries to his feet”.

Some of the stolen items were recovered from searches of the pair’s homes and vehicles.

Sentencing was adjourned for the preparation of a probation report.