A man has been jailed for 16 months after admitting to robbing a man of his £35,000 vintage car in Rhayader.

Ben Owen, 35, of Oldbury in the West Midlands was charged with robbery, taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent and possession of Class A and Class B drugs after his arrest in November 2025.

He pleaded guilty to all four charges and has been jailed for 16 months.

Describing the impact of the attack, the victim said: “It would be a lie to say this incident has not shaken me up. This is a safe area, nothing like that happens here and it’s come as a total and utter surprise to myself and my neighbours.

“I don’t feel safe in my own home anymore and have considering moving, but that would be running away from my problems.”

Just before midnight on Tuesday 18 November, police received a 999-call from a 79-year-old man reporting that he’d been attacked by an unknown, masked male outside his home in Rhayader, at around 10.30pm that evening.

With officers immediately dispatched to the scene, the caller explained how just an hour-and-a-half earlier, he’d been grabbed by his tie which was pulled tightly around his neck before the keys to his Morgan Plus 4 classic sports car were ripped from him.

Owen demanded the victim’s phone number and said he’d call in about 30 minutes before speeding off in the £35,000 classic car.

A short while later, Owen called the victim and presented him with two choices: either the car be stripped and sold for spares, or the owner could buy it back from him.

It was at this point that the victim phoned 999.

Specialist units including roads policing and the dog unit were deployed to track down the suspect and the stolen car. At around 3.30am, the vehicle was spotted having been abandoned on a driveway in the nearby village of St Harmon.

Officers continued their search on foot to locate the suspect when they noticed a shadowy figure lying down under a tree. PC Edwards called out for the person to remain where they were, but instead, he leapt to his feet and jumped over a garden fence and into a field.

With Owen refusing to give himself up, the officer tackled him to the ground, before arresting him on suspicion of robbery and taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent.

Following a person search, Owen was further arrested for possession of Class A and Class B drugs.

Owen was sentenced to 16 months in prison on Thursday.

As part of his impact statement, the victim addressed his attacker directly saying that, despite being “somewhat traumatised” by the incident, he bore no personal animosity towards him. The victim ended his statement by telling Owen “I hope your future improves.”

DS Adam Clark, the officer supervising this case, said: “We welcome the sentencing of Ben Owen and hope that this serves as a reminder that we will do all we can to bring offenders to justice.”