CONVICTED (2021) | Mark Smallman, born c. 1973, of Alwen. Acrefair, Wrexham LL14 3EU – stole four toy poodles from a commercial breeder; one dog died after being hit by a car.
Smallman admitted committing burglary and stealing the dogs from the Vicarage Kennels in Berse Road, New Broughton, Wrexham, which is owned by Julie Ann and David Crabtree.
He originally appeared before magistrates in Llandudno in the summer of 2021 and denied the crime altogether.
The case was due to go on trial in October 2021, but Smallman confessed to everything just weeks before the hearing.
Smallman pinched the poodles from the breeder on November 18, 2020.
Three of the dogs were recovered, but one sadly died after being struck by a car.
The court heard the kennels were checked on the night of the burglary but there was nothing untoward.
Smallman snatched three female poodles and one male – in the hours after that check took place.
The court was told it became clear to the business owners that Smallman had gained entry to the site by snapping a padlock.
Smallman left a “not so insignificant quantity of blood” that police tested and used as a trail back to him.
A social media appeal was launched by Julie Crabtree while the investigation was ongoing, in a bid to get the dogs back to the kennels.
One dog that was spotted running loose in the Brymbo area sadly died after being hit by two cars and left to die in the road.
It was not clear how the dog managed to get loose in the rural Wrexham village before it died.
A woman contacted the couple who run the kennels, believing they had just purchased the remaining three dogs for around £5,000 all together. This was confirmed to be the case when Ms Crabtree visited them next day.
Smallman was arrested on January 13, 2021
Simon Kileen, defending Smallman, acknowledged that jail was inevitable” but asked the judge to consider imposing the shortest possible prison term.
The judge was told that drugs were the root cause of his offending, leading him to turn to crime to fund the lifestyle.
It had been “some time” since Smallman had committed a crime, saying that there is a “seed of hope” that he is getting his life on track, Mr Kileen added.
Recorder John Philpotts told Smallman he had caused “great sadness” to the family who lost one of the poodles.
Passing a two year prison term, the judge added: “These dogs were sold clearly for some significant gain. It is not clear or suggested that you were responsible for the selling of the dogs, but you were the one who took them in the first place – that cannot be ignored.”
Permanently losing one of the animals taken will have caused ‘serious trauma’ to the kennel owners, the judge stressed.