Two boat thieves have been spared jail after promising to pay compensation. The pair broke into Llanfairfechan Sailing Club and stole the £19,000 vessel, and also pinched a £3,500 quadbike from a private seller.
A judge at Caernarfon Crown Court today heard their proposals for compensating the club and the quadbike owner. He gave them suspended prison sentences and ordered them to pay the money within two years.
Last month the same court heard how Samuel Philp, 30, and Craig Williams, 35, had travelled from the Scunthorpe area and spent the night in a Wrexham hotel. They broke into a compound in Conwy and towed the Ribcraft vessel away. You can sign up for all the latest court stories here
They also stole a £3,500 Suzuki quad bike in a separate theft. Its owner was left “gutted” as he wanted to put the proceeds towards a mortgage for a house.
At that hearing prosecutor David Mainstone told how the club had bought a £19,169 Ribcraft boat in 2021 in a bid to encourage young people to get out onto the water. But in May 2022 the defendants cut off a padlock at the sailing club compound.
CCTV footage showed Philps towing the boat away on his Mercedes Sprinter van at 5am on May 4 before travelling east on the A55. In an earlier incident, Daniel Forbes had put his quad bike on eBay, asking for £3,500.
A “buyer” contacted him and they agreed they would meet at an address in Penmaenmawr to pay for and collect the quad bike. Mr Forbes last saw it on May 3, 2022 and woke up the following day to find it had been stolen.
His CCTV footage showed a Mercedes Sprinter van driving away. Mr Mainstone said police stopped the van with Philps and Williams inside.
Philps, of Searby Road, Scunthorpe, and Williams, of Thompson Nook, Hatfield, Humberside, pleaded guilty to the two thefts but a judge at Caernarfon Crown Court last month adjourned sentencing to see how much the men could raise in compensation for Llanfairfechan Sailing Club and the quadbike owner.
Today Simon Killeen, representing the defendants, suggested Williams could pay £1,000 immediately then £300 a month for two years. They would sell their van which would fetch just under £7,000 with proceeds divided between the two’s compensation obligations.
Mr Killeen added that Philps has “significant debts” and less income, and family responsibilities like his co-defendant. He would still pay compensation.
“This proposal would make a substantial contribution towards the total loss of these two parties (the sailing club and Mr Forbes),” said Mr Killeen. The judge His Honour Timothy Petts told the men the theft of the boat had seriously disrupted the Llanfairfechan Sailing Club’s activities.
They could not buy a like-for-like boat and got another one “at great expense”. But he said he could suspend the men’s prison sentence if the compensation is paid.
He gave both men a nine-month jail term suspended for two years. Both must do 100 hours of unpaid work.
Philp and Williams must pay £8,300 and £11,700 respectively in compensation, making a total of £20,000. Of that amount £3,500 would go to Mr Forbes with the remainder to the sailing club.
The judge did not specify the size of the exact contributions to reach those totals but told the defendants: “I expect you to make regular payments.” These can include lump sums particularly when the van is sold.
He made a deprivation order on the van which had been seized by police. The defendants then need to “knuckle down” and find a suitable payment structure, he added.
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