Carmarthenshire: Rally car owner faked theft of his own car in fraud

The owner of a rally car who faked the theft of his £49,000 vehicle has been sentenced to 16 months in prison, suspended for two years.

Llŷr Jones, 34, from Drefach Felindre, Carmarthenshire, pleaded guilty to fraud last month.

Police appealed for information on the Ford Escort MK2 after Jones reported its theft from his home in October 2022.

Jones even spoke of his "heartbreak" in a television interview at the time.

He posted about the alleged theft of the motor from his locked garage on Facebook on 7 October 2022.

The court heard in the days before he went public with the "theft" Jones arranged for expensive parts of the car, including most of its engine, to be taken by friends unaware of the fraud.

He contacted his insurance company, Zenith, and made an appeal on NewyddionS4C where he said the loss of his car was huge.

He faked the theft to try and claim the cost of the car from his insurers, the court heard.

The plot unravelled when a friend went to the police on 25 October with suspicions something was not right.

Three days later Jones was arrested. After initially denying fraud he admitted the offence.

The car, reduced to little more than a shell, was found in woods near Newcastle Emlyn.

Georgia Donohue, defending, told the court her client had mental health problems at the time of the offence and that his young son was suffering heart problems.

The court heard Jones had concocted a "silly scheme" while under strain.

Sentencing, Judge Geraint Walters said he should not repeat anything similar again.

As part of his sentence he was ordered to carry out 200 hours of community service and pay court costs.