A scaffolder has appeared before magistrates after handling a boat engine that had been stolen during a spate of thefts from Porthgain and Solva Harbours during the summer of 2021.
Karl Young, 41, was working as a scaffolder in St Davids when he agreed to buy the engine, despite knowing that it had been stolen.
Crown Prosecutor Simone Walsh this week informed Haverfordwest magistrates that the engine was later recovered by police at the defendant’s home in Portmead, Swansea.
“A string of boat engine thefts were reported in north Pembrokeshire during July and August 2021, that had been stolen from either Solva or Porthgain Harbours,” Crown Prosecutor Simone Walsh told Haverfordwest magistrates this week.
Ms Walsh said the engine was valued at approximately £600.
Young, who pleaded guilty to a charge of handling stolen goods, was represented in court by Mr Stuart John.
“He was offered the sale of one engine and thought that he could use it to go fishing with his 11-year-old son,” he said.
“But he really should have known better and understood that the circumstances were such that he should have had suspicions.”
After listening to the evidence, district judge Mark Layton, imposed an electronic daily curfew on Young between the hours of 8pm and 6am. The curfew will remain in place for four months.
He was also ordered to pay £85 costs and a £95 surcharge.
“You were in possession of someone else’s boat engine knowing that it was stolen,” commented Judge Layton. “This crosses the community sentence threshold.”
