They hired a vehicle to follow their victims’ chauffeur-driven car home
Defendants (left to right) Arturo Flores-Marquez, Arturo Mendivil Valvin and Jhony Ramirez-Loayza
Three burglars followed a couple from Manchester Airport to their Wrexham home. They had hired a vehicle to follow their victims’ chauffeur-driven car.
Then they pinched the luggage from a property while its owner was unpacking, Caernarfon Crown Court heard today. One of the burglars – a Cuban national living in Guatemala – had travelled from France to the UK in a small boat and entered the country illegally. A judge said their crime had had a considerable effect on the victims. They all admitted burglary and were all jailed for two years and are likely to be deported – Reports North Wales Live.
Prosecutor Michael Whitty told how the owners – a couple – had been followed from Manchester Airport to their home on December 1 last year. The man and his chauffeur unloaded the car and put a briefcase in the hall between the door and porch.
The driver left but the man continued to put things away. He came back downstairs to see a man in a dark coat – one of the defendants – leaving his hallway.
Arturo Flores-Marques.(Image: North Wales Police)
It became clear the briefcase had gone. The man contacted his driver who said he hadn’t taken it and he returned to the property. Mr Whitty said the briefcase contained 400 US dollars, £100, Thai currency, sensitive business documents and a banking fob.
Police were alerted and officers traced a hired car which had followed the victims from the airport. It had been rented by one of the defendants Jhony (corr) Ramirez-Loayza.
Arturo Mendivil-Valvin .(Image: North Wales Police)
The following day – December 2 – police stopped their hire car on the M602 and arrested all three men inside. They were Ramirez-Loayza, 56, of Hemberton Road, London, Arturo Mendivil-Valvin, 49, of Delta Street, London and Arturo Flores-Marquez, 59, of Upper Clapton Road, Clapton, London.
CCTV footage showed two of the men approaching the victims’ house just after 1.20pm the previous day. The third was believed to be the getaway driver.
The owner of the house was upset by the burglary. “She has lost her sense of peace of mind and her sense of safety in her home,” said Mr Whitty. The couple have a child with special needs and now struggle to find carers to come to their home – especially overnight.
Jhoyn Ramirez-Loayza.(Image: North Wales Police)
All three defendants had the benefit of a Spanish interpreter at today’s hearing. Alun Williams, for Ramirez-Loayza, said he had hired the car.
He is a Peruvian national living near Madrid in Spain with his wife and elderly parents. Mr Williams said Mendivil-Valvin is a Cuban national with a wife in Guatemala. He had entered the UK illegally and is anxious to support his family.
Laura McMillan, defending Flores-Marquez, who is also Peruvian, said he had shown genuine remorse. He has four children, one daughter has mobility problems.
The judge His Honour Timothy Petts said the men had shown a degree of planning. Two had visitors’ visas and one is in the UK illegally. All would serve half of their sentences then be deported if they hadn’t been deported by then already, he added.