BEING in sway to an older boy, led to two teens taking part in a Haverfordwest burglary, a court heard.

The two youths, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had previously admitted, along with an adult, Ethan Rich, entering The Picks, Hole in the Wall, on June 19 of last year, stealing paper items and cleaning products, when they appeared before Haverfordwest magistrate’s youth court on Friday, July 5.

Rich had been dealt with at an earlier hearing, the court heard.

The younger of the two youths admitted an unrelated charge of entering Haverfordwest’s Iceland supermarket, stealing £3.10-worth of groceries, on June 2 of this year.

Linda Baker, prosecuting, said doorways had been forced open and a lock broken by the trio, who were caught on CCTV.

Referring to the Iceland burglary, she said police attended after an alarm was activated at 11.30pm.

An officer attending saw two people flee by jumping a wall and the youth, who was later found in possession of the stolen goods, attempting to run away.

The goods taken included Pot Noodles, kit-kats and rice crispie bars.

Representing the older youth, Jonathan Webb said the two youths were in sway to the adult “older boy”.

Representing the other youth, Mike Kelleher said the matter had initially been listed as conspiracy to commit burglary, with the case being sent to Swansea crown court.

The case was sent back to the magistrates court by the sitting judge, the court heard.

Mr Kelleher, listing a long string of achievements, said his client was “not the sort of boy you’d expect to be before the courts”.

Referring to the more recent burglary, he said: “It’s a peer group thing, he didn’t do it on his own. Nevertheless, a completely stupid and pointless offence, this is one of the most ridiculous offences I have seen for a long time.”

The youths were ordered to pay compensation of £33.33 each, with costs for the elder of £85 and £170 for the younger, along with a surcharge of £20 each.

They were told: “You two shouldn’t be in the court; you shouldn’t have spent the last 12 months thinking about this. Having a laugh in the middle of the night and breaking into places isn’t going to help your future prospects; nobody is going to employ a burglar.”