A MAN guilty of three counts of theft and of carrying a knife in Prestatyn has been jailed.

Daniel Keevil, 38, of Reads Avenue, Blackpool, was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment at Mold Crown Court today (December 8), having pleaded guilty to all four offences on November 7.

Prosecuting, Karl Scholz told the court of how Keevil had received a suspended sentence at Preston Crown Court on November 4, 2021 after he was guilty of making threats to kill and unlawful wounding.

This sentence was 20 months’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.

The court then heard how, shortly after 12pm on November 3, Keevil entered TK Maxx in Parc Prestatyn Shopping Park, and selected “about four or five coats”.

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He then put the coats over his arms and ran out of the store, having made no attempt to pay for them.

The items were not recovered, but were found to have had an estimated value of £500.

Keevil returned to the store two days later, between 2-3pm, putting “about four or five jackets” over his arms before again running out of the store with no attempt made to pay for them.

This set off an alarm in the store, and the goods, which were located and returned, were valued at £469.95.

Also on November 5, Keevil was seen to be in the JD Sports store at the same shopping park with another man.

When an alarm in the store sounded, a female employee saw them both run out of the premises.

She chased after them, and saw Keevil dumping jackets he had stolen from JD Sports in a garden before running off.

The jackets were retrieved and found to have a value of £500.

After an area search was conducted by police, Keevil and the other male were located, and both were found to be in possession of items stolen from TK Maxx earlier that day.

When searched, a small craft knife was found inside Keevil’s rucksack.

He initially gave a false name and address, before providing police with his correct details following his arrest.

Keevil had 31 previous convictions for 49 offences, including five for criminal damage, four for theft, and one for burglary.

Defending, Sarah Yates conceded that the suspended sentence should be activated, especially given Keevil’s non-compliance with the terms of his sentence.

Yates said that, while Keevil had generally been attending his probation appointments, he had done little regarding his requirement to complete unpaid work.

It was also noted that Keevil’s offences for which he received a suspended sentence in November 2021 were his first offences since 2015.

After being released from custody previously, he was said to have “regained some stability”, finding a stable address, entering a relationship, and obtaining a job at an airport car wash.

Keevil was left homeless, though, following his relationship ending, with Yates admitting “things rather fell off a cliff edge” afterwards.

He stopped going to work and attending appointments, “fell into the wrong crowd”, and “turned back to old habits”.

Yates said Keevil is “going to try and regain his footing, and looks forward to his release date”.

He has three children, with whom he hopes to regain contact, and hopes for more help and support with his drinking issues, with Yates saying he uses alcohol as a “crutch”.

Judge Rhys Rowlands revoked the initial suspended sentence, and imposed a 24-month consecutive sentence.

The craft knife was ordered to be seized by police, and Keevil is to pay a victim surcharge of £128.

He told Keevil: “You have a significant record of offending over the years, and there are repeated breaches of court orders. That means, at present, no realistic prospect of rehabilitation.

“That said, you are capable of staying out of trouble – there is that gap in time (between 2015 and 2021) when you were able to stay out of trouble.

“You have three children, so they’re the incentive for you to stay out of trouble upon your release.”