Bungling thieves caught after failing to shop around

Hapless thieves believed to have stolen rings worth £7,000 from a jewellery shop were caught after they tried to sell one of them back to another branch of the same shop down the road. An assistant at the second shop recognised the ring as one stolen the week before and promptly called the police, who had someone in custody within the hour. Derek Davies, 69, who owns D & M Davies Jewellers in Tonypandy and Treorchy with his wife Mair, had arrived on site at his Treorchy shop minutes after the thieves had turned tail and fled as the shop assistant had recognised the ring they were selling.



He said: “They stole it from my shop in Tonypandy on the Friday and brought some of the rings back to my other shop in Treorchy on the Wednesday – it beggars belief. It was last Friday [November 5] when a shop assistant left a key in a cabinet and two of them distracted her as the other two stole a tray of 72 rings. She called the police straight away and as far as we were concerned that was that. Then, on Wednesday las week I was on my way down to the Treorchy shop and when I walked in the shop assistant was on the phone to the police.

“I took the phone and told them to get someone to us straight away because the thieves were still in the area, then I went out of the shop and found them three-quarters-of-a-mile up the road going from shop to shop.” He added: “They must have just gone into the next town a few miles down the road, not looked at the name and not realised it was the same shop. We also design and manufacture our own rings so as soon as the second shop assistant looked at it she said she thought it was one of ours, and the thief said, ‘I don’t think so’. It is just monumentally stupid. Although £7,000 is a lot of money to lose, I’m just glad that we seem to have caught them and I have to say the police were very prompt. They were there within five minutes and they nabbed them – just like that.”



A spokesman for South Wales Police said four people, including two men aged 23 and 33, a 30-year-old woman and a 16-year-old boy, had been arrested in connection with the theft. He said: “The three males have been charged with theft-related offence and have been remanded in custody.” Detective Inspector Andy Jones of Ton Pentre CID said: “This type of crime is very unusual and recent figures show that crime in Rhondda Cynon Taff has fallen by more than 27%. I want to thank the residents and businesses of Tonypandy and Treorchy for their continued vigilance and assistance in keeping their communities safe.”