The court heard heard both the defendants' lives have been blighted by their abuse of drugs

Thieves who stole a man's moped and keys from the centre of Swansea then rushed to his house and burgled it, a court has heard.

Ashley Bevan and Siobhan Clayton stashed the stolen machine then hopped in a taxi and went straight to their victim's home and broke in, helping themselves to jewellery, bank cards and other items. Swansea Crown Court heard both the defendants' lives have been blighted by their abuse of drugs.

Sian Cutter, prosecuting, told the court that on the morning of July 30 this year a man parked his moped on Worcester Place in Swansea city centre. In the secure box on the back of the machine were personal items including a jacket and keys. Shortly afterwards Bevan and Clayton stole the bike, and CCTV subsequently recovered during the police investigation showed the pair pushing the machine to the rear of the Quadrant shopping centre.

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The court heard Bevan then booked a Yellow Cabs taxi to a house on Pentregethin Road in Gendros - the home address of the biker. Miss Cutter said at around midday a neighbour of the bike owner was in her kitchen when she heard a smashing noise, and when she looked out she saw a man and woman fleeing over the garden fence. A short time later Bevan and Clayton took another cab back to the city centre, and Clayton used a bank card stolen during the burglary in the Lifestyle Express shop on St Helen's Road. The court heard the cabbie who had transported the couple later found a bottle of aftershave in his vehicle, an aftershave subsequently identified as coming from the burgled house.

Police identified Bevan and Clayton as suspects from CCTV footage of the area, and police then began the task of trying to locate them. The court heard police visited a number of addresses linked to the defendants, and their inquiries led to a tent on the banks of the River Tawe near the city centre where they found clothes similar to the ones Bevan had been wearing in the CCTV footage along with a jewellery box containing necklaces which had been taken during the break-in. The investigation continued, and on August 18 Clayton was spotted on Swansea's High Street and arrested; police then discovered Bevan was staying with a friend in the Penlan area and went to a house on Penderry Road where they arrested him. Read about a burglar who stole a £1,000 Burberry handbag and gave it to his girlfriend as a gift.

The court heard that at the time of the theft and burglary Bevan had been on police bail having been caught red-handed trying to steal a motorbike parked in the shelter outside HSBC bank on Portland Street in the city centre. On that occasion - just two weeks before the burglary - a policeman nabbed the defendant with a rucksack of tools including a hammer and pliers as he was cutting the lock off a bike. Bevan initially gave false names to the PC but once his real identity was established he said he had gone out that night looking for a motorbike to steal because he needed transport.

Ashley John Robert Bevan, aged 38, of Neath Road, Plasmarl, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to going equipped for theft, attempted theft, theft, and burglary when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has five previous house burglaries on his record, as well as a conviction for robbery. Siobhan Lorel Clayton, aged 23, of Vincent Street, Sandfields, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to theft, burglary, and fraud by false representation - use of the stolen bank card - when she appeared alongside her co-defendant. In April last year Clayton was sentenced to 36 weeks in prison for burgling a student house while on a suspended prison sentence for racially abusing a cafe owner and spitting in his face.

Dan Griffiths, for Bevan, said the defendant's addiction to Class A drugs had blighted much of his life, and driven almost all of his past offending. He said the use of drugs had exacerbated Bevan's mental health issues, and until he addressed those addictions his future looked "bleak".

Mark Davies, for Clayton, said his client was "a very complex and vulnerable young lady" who, from a very young age, had taken cannabis with her mother before moving on to amphetamine and then Class A drugs including heroin and crack cocaine.

Recorder Duncan Bould said it was clear Bevan's addiction to drugs was now chronic, and his offending emanated from that addiction. He said he had read an eloquent letter written to the court by Bevan, and he said he hoped the defendant was serious about asking for help.

The recorder said while a pre-sentence report into Clayton had not been able to recommend any alternative to immediate custody at the present, it was clear the Probation Service felt there was a chance it could work with her in the future to help turn her life around.

With a once third discount for his guilty pleas Bevan was sentenced to a total of three years in prison comprising four months for the attempted bike theft offences and 32 months for the theft and burglary matters to run consecutively. The defendant will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. With a one-quarter discount for her guilty pleas Clayton was sentenced to one year in prison for the bike and burglary offences - she too will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.

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