TWO Aberystwyth men have been jailed following a series of creeper burglaries on elderly people in 2019.

Paul Robert Morgan Richards - formerly Paul Richards-Keegan, 25, of Pwllclai, Capel Bangor, pleaded guilty to three counts of dwelling burglary when he appeared at Swansea Crown Court for sentencing.

Daniel Thomas Bloomer, 24, of Heol Elenydd, Devil’s Bridge, pleaded guilty to one count of burglary.

The court heard the three burglaries happened in December 2019 around the Aberystwyth area.

Both men are currently serving lengthy prison sentences for other offences, and the judge called the delay in charging the two men for these offences “unconscionable”.

He now wants an explanation from the chief constable of the police force responsible for the delay.

Craig Jones, prosecuting, said the first burglary occurred sometime between 6-8 December when Richards and Bloom used a rock to smash their way through patios doors at a house in Llandre.

The homeowners - a couple in their 70s - were away visiting relatives during the break-in where Bloomer and Richards stole a haul of Christmas presents. The second burglary happened on 18 December at a remote property near Llanrhystud and involved Richards and an unnamed man. The court heard the occupant, a 77-year-old woman, was sleeping downstairs on the sofa when she awoken at 4am by the sound of loud banging. She picked up a torch and walked out into the dark hallway where she felt someone “shoving” past her before she was grabbed by the wrist, and an attempt was made to drag her down some steps.

The court heard one of the intruders claimed to be a police officer, and showed her what was purported to be identification - an assertion the woman challenged “in no uncertain terms”. After the raiders left the woman found her handbag was missing, as were items of jewellery and a number of Christmas cards. The third burglary - committed by Richards alone - happened on 21 December at a house on Cross Street in Bow Street. The homeowner had gone away for Christmas but was called by police who told her that her home had just been burgled.

Mr Jones said it later emerged Richards had been employed by a gardening company called Purple Giraffe which regularly carried out work at the victim’s house.

The victim also found out that when she had gone out for lunch with a friend on 15 December where she had talked about her holiday plans, Richards’ mother, Dawn Keegan, had been sat at a nearby table.

The court heard that though the burglaries were carried out in December 2019, it wasn’t until September 2021 that the defendants were charged via postal requisition.

In December last year Richards was sentenced to four years in prison at Swansea Crown Court for a series of brutal assaults on his then-partner.

In the same month Bloomer was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison for a series of burglaries.

Judge Huw Rees sentenced Richards to 20 months in prison and Bloomer to six months.