A dad wielded a fake gun while breaking into vehicles and threatening to "blow off" one car owner's head. Beer keg maker Paul Thomas went on the spree of break-ins after struggling to cope with his child not recognising him, a court heard.
The 20-year-old appeared to be trying car doors in Rhiwglyn Road, Ogmore Vale, at around 6am on October 22 last year when Leah Spanswick saw him through her bedroom window. When she shouted at him to get away from the car and called him a "scumbag" he replied: "Oh sorry." She called him a scumbag again and he reached into his jacket pocket to pull out what Ms Spanswick and her partner believed to be a handgun. The couple shut their windows and Thomas left the scene.
Prosecutor Roger Griffiths told Cardiff Crown Court : "Around 20 minutes later Christopher Padget, who lives on another street in Ogmore Vale, was sitting on his settee and heard a noise he thought was the delivery of milk bottles. He then saw the defendant sat in the driver seat of his Vauxhall Viva leaning across as if looking at the glovebox on the passenger side. Mr Padget ran outside, opened the passenger door, and shouted: 'Get out'.
