A Saundersfoot man who attempted to steal a van whilst drunk has been jailed after admitting the offence in court.

Forty-year-old Andrew Lee Gibbs, of Stammers Road, pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted theft of a motor vehicle, when he appeared at Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

Prosecutor Sian Vaughan told the court that the owner of the Ford Transit van belonging to construction company Merry Brothers, had parked the vehicle outside a property in Saundersfoot on April 19, and had left it safe and secured.

Police officers received an anonymous phone call to report a banging noise and Mr. Gibbs was arrested after making full admissions to police officers that he was trying to get into the vehicle.

“He told officers that he was trying to get into the vehicle to take it for a spin as he was depressed,” explained Ms Vaughan.

“Mr. Gibbs has similar theft related matters on record, and in September 2017, he was handed a 12 week suspended prison sentence for drink driving,” she added.

Defence solicitor Mark Layton said that his client fully co-operated with police officers and said ‘guilty as charged’ when they spoke to him about the incident.

Mr. Layton explained that Mr. Gibbs had been having a ‘traumatic time’ of late as his father had passed away quite recently and his mother had been admitted to a nursing home.

“Mr. Gibbs had gone out and drunk far too much but had come to his senses when trying to break in to the vehicle and police officers apprehended him at the scene.

“He wanted to take the vehicle for a ride, he was depressed and can’t apologise enough for his actions,” added Mr. Layton.

Probation officer Julie Norman told the court that she had some dealings with Mr. Gibbs as he was subject to post sentence supervision, and that there had been some leniency towards him when he missed appointments as he had been acting as a carer for his mother.

“He was drunk and had taken cannabis so he could’ve faced a much more serious charge if he had taken the vehicle,” she said.

Magistrates elected to activate six weeks of the suspended prison sentence and add a further two weeks for the latest charge, meaning that Mr. Gibbs was ordered to serve a total of eight weeks in custody.

He was fined £40 for the offence and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £115.