Man led armed gang attack on house when he should have been in prison (original) (raw)

A man led an armed gang which smashed up a house in the dead of night when he should have been in prison, a court has heard. William Joyce had been allowed four-days' home leave but simply never returned and was at large for almost two years during which time he took part in the mob attack.

Sending Joyce to prison a judge said she was satisfied the father-of-four had played a leading role in the house attack. At the time of the incident Joyce was unlawfully at large having been given temporary home release part-way through an eight-year prison sentence imposed for his part in a family-based burglary gang which committed more than 70 house burglaries across south Wales Wales.

Tom Scapens, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that at around 11.40pm on July 20 this year the victim in the case - an aunty of the defendant - was at home in Gorseinon with her husband and four grandchildren when a Transit van pulled up outside the property. He said four males armed with weapons exited the van "at speed" and rushed to the house where they began smashing windows while shouting "Where is Lurch?"

The court heard that only one of the four men has ever been identified - the 27-year-old defendant Joyce. After smashing windows and the video doorbell at the Grenfell Avenue property the men smashed windows on a car parked on the drive then jumped back into the van and drove off. The man called "Lurch" the gang was looking for was not at the property at the time. The court heard there was no impact statement from the vicitm in the case, Helen Sanderson, as she had withdrawn her support for the prosecution.

The prosecutor said at the time of the attack the defendant was a prisoner who had failed to return to prison after being given home leave. In December 2019 Joyce was sentenced to eight years in prison for conspiracy to commit burglary for his part in a family-based organised crime group which burgled more than 70 houses stealing hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of gold jewellery, often from elderly victims. The gang carefully selected their targets by carrying out reconnaissance missions where they drove the streets using the cover of being scrap metal dealers or handymen distributing flyers door-to-door. You can read about the complex police investigation which eventually caught the gang here.

Joyce was moved to HMP Prescoed open prison in Monmouthshire in November 2021 and the following September was assessed as being suitable for temporary release licence. The court heard that on October 4, 2022, he was allowed home to Swansea for four days but failed to return to jail and it wasn't until July 22, 2024 that he was arrested when police stopped his Mercedes vehicle as it was towing a caravan through Cardiff.

William Joyce, of Mill Steam Way, Swansea Vale, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to violent disorder, criminal damage, and failing to return to prison after release on temporary licence when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has seven previous convictions for 12 offences including robberies, burglaries, battery, and conspiracy to commit burglary with intent to commit an indictable offence. For the latest court reports, sign up to our crime newsletter here

Huw Davies, for Joyce, said after being given temporary release licence from Prescoed the father-of-four had returned to the site in Swansea where he lived and to his pregnant partner who was struggling with her mental health and struggling to look after their children. He said the defendant had then stayed at the site rather than returning to Prescoed and said it was accepted he had thereafter he been unlawfully at large for almost two years. The barrister said while living at the site Joyce's father's caravan had been broken into and his father had been assaulted and this had led to the "extremely unpleasant" incident in Gorseinon, but he said "members of the family have now resolved their differences".

Judge Catherine Richards said she was satisfied Joyce had played a leading role in the violent disorder in Gorseinon and she said after failing to return to prison the defendant had been at large for some 21 months and it was only his arrest in Cardiff which brought that situation to an end. With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas Joyce was sentenced to two years and four months in prison for violent disorder and one month concurrent for criminal damage, and with a one-quarter discount for his guilty plea to failing to return to prison he was sentenced to eight months in prison to run consecutively with the other sentences making an overall sentence of three years in prison. Joyce will serve up to half the sentence custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.

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