A MAN has been jailed for taking a car and crashing it into a Powys shop, causing more than £300,000 worth of damage and injuring his cousin.

Cousins Leejay Richards, 23, and Lee Richards, 18, both of Llandovery Road, Llanwrtyd, were sentenced at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court for the incident in January last year, which left the community without its shop during the coronavirus lockdown.

The pair were travelling in a Renault Clio which belonged to their grandmother with Leejay at the wheel as they collided with the Premier Store in Llanwrtyd in the early hours of January 24 last year, having been drinking in Builth Wells.

In sending Leejay Richards to prison for 10 months, Recorder Simon Mills said it was "as bad an example of aggravated vehicle taking as you can imagine", adding that it had deprived a rural community of a "significant resource" as the shop was closed just before the lockdown period.

The pair had previously appeared at Llandrindod Wells Magistrates Court where Leejay had pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking and causing injury by dangerous driving.

Lee Richards, who was 17 at the time, had pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking, and suffered serious injuries to an upper arm and elbow in the collision.

Prosecuting in the Crown Court, Sophie Hill said the car was owned and insured solely for use by their grandmother – who was referred to in court as their mother – and they had taken the keys without her consent. She only found out when police informed her the vehicle had been involved in a collision.

Ms Hill said the pair had been drinking in Builth, and Lee was the front-seat passenger as Leejay drove. When they hit the shop the car flipped over and slid away.

The damage caused to the building is estimated to be in the region of £300,000-£400,000. There was damage to the left-hand corner of the shop, internal fridges and the entire frontage and upstairs needed to be replaced. Those living upstairs were also evacuated until the building was deemed structurally safe.

When breathalysed at the scene, Leejay was found to have 61 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

Lee was taken to Nevill Hall Hospital with fractures to his upper arm and elbow.

In mitigation for Leejay Richards, Susan Ferrier urged the judge to draw back from sending him to prison as he cares for his ill grandmother and was worried about not being there to look after her.

She said: "He is and has been ruminating and is desperately remorseful about what took place.

"This defendant has shown no conduct before or since which suggests he will have further contact with the Crown Court.

"His mother suffers from ill health which continues to be ongoing and is one of the factors which has weighed heavily on this defendants' mind.

"He felt shame and embarrassment that he had allowed himself to end up in this situation. His fear is for his mother and how she is going to manage."

Andrew Kendall, defending for Lee Richards, said his client was a youth at the time of the incident and suffered injuries, still not being able to fully extend his arm a year later.

He added: "He shares a lot of the same personal circumstances as his cousin. He is not a risk to the public and there is the prospect of rehabilitation."

Recorder Simon Mills said he took into account that they were "decent young men" who looked after their mother.

Addressing the pair, he said: "Leejay, you should have set a better example to Lee. You were frankly driving in a car you had taken without permission, you caused him serious injuries, you damaged a shop which will cost the insurers hundreds of thousands of pounds to put right.

"That small rural community was deprived of a significant resource. The road had to be closed. There were concerns about the structure of the whole building, and the people in the flat upstairs had to leave.

"You were lucky you weren't both killed, and you were lucky you did not kill anybody else. This is a very serious offence and sometimes saying sorry just isn't enough. This is as bad an example of aggravated vehicle taking as you can imagine."

For aggravated vehicle taking Leejay Richards was jailed for 10 months, and he will serve six months concurrently for causing serious injury.

He was also banned from driving for 29 months and will have to take an extended driving test to regain his licence.

Lee Richards was handed a community order to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work. He will also be subject to an electronically monitored curfew between 8pm and 7am, for three months.

He has also been disqualified from driving fro 12 months.