TWO men from the Midlands drove around Ceredigion in the middle of the night breaking into garages, a court heard today, August 3.

Kevin Hanley, aged 38, and Patrick Sean Hanley, 45, targeted coin operated devices and got away with hundreds of pounds in coins.

They both admitted stealing £400 from OC Davies and Sons at Penparc, and burgling the Taten Eire chip shop, Blaenporth, where they stole £110 from the till, and £50 from an Air Ambulance charity box.

They also stole an unknown amount of cash from the CK supermarket in Tanygroes, all on April 15, 2018.

The men, from Walsall, also admitted stealing cash from the Dryslwyn filling station, Llwyncelyn, by breaking into the cash boxes of a jet wash and an air machine.

Tom Scapens, prosecuting, told Swansea crown court how police were alerted by a member of the public who saw two men walking around the back of the Dryslwyn garage at 1.30am when it was closed.

Officers discovered the break-ins and found that tools had been left behind.

The van the men were travelling in was later stopped and police found a large amount of coins.

The following morning the police began receiving reports of the other break-ins and were able to see the men on CCTV cameras.

Mr Scapens said the van they used had been fitted with a tracker device which showed clearly where the men had been the night before.

He said the crime spree had been “a thieving expedition,” that had led to substantial losses.

The break-in at the OC Davies premises had caused £750 worth of damage.

The court heard that Kevin Hanley was currently serving a 21 month sentence for later offending. He was jailed for an additional nine months.

Patrick Hanley was jailed for eight months, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and 20 sessions of a rehabilitation activity.

Mr Scapens said that in the light of the guilty pleas, similar charges against Shay Withnall, also of Walsall, would be withdrawn.

Formal verdicts of not guilty were recorded against him.