A teenager wielded a 16in machete in a leafy Cardiff neighbourhood. While on bail for burglary and helping steal a car David McCauley was seen with the blade in a pursuit outside a Pontcanna chip shop.
Cardiff Crown Court heard McCauley was just 16 when he committed the earlier offences. Prosecutor Jeff Jones said a family were asleep in their "three-storey, relatively smart property" in Heath on the night of January 25, 2021, when McCauley and accomplices forced entry through a kitchen window.
The burglars stole two sets of car keys as well as a front door key before making off in the family's Vauxhall Corsa. One of the family members called police at 1.25am and the stolen car was spotted by officers at about 2.50am in Western Avenue in Llandaff. "It didn't stop for police," said Mr Jones. "It went through a red light, drove at excessive speed, went through a no-right turn, and crashed in Llandaff village on the cathedral green area, hitting two parked cars."
