A burglar whose gang stole more than £500,000 of jewellery has been ordered to pay back just £1.
Michael Casey was 21 years old and was part a family-crime gang that stole more than 70 houses from Swansea Vale.
Casey profited by more than £120,000 from his part in the coordinated break-ins which involved using stolen cars to travel between crime scenes.
Casey went on the run for 2 years, before finally being captured and imprisoned for 4 years.
He appeared yesterday at Swansea Crown Court to face a proceeds-of-crime hearing. However, despite earning hundreds of thousands of pounds in ill-gotten gains, Casey is said to have no assets and was penniless.
Michael Casey (21 years old) was part of a family-crime gang that operated out of a travelers’ site and burgled over 70 homes
All the stolen goods were never recovered from South Wales during the raids.
Swansea Crown Court heard Casey had made around £121,117.89 from his role in the thefts along with his uncles and cousins.
However, he was required to return a minimal fee because the financial investigators found nothing.
In a previous hearing, it was stated that the gang ran out from the Swansea Vale ‘unofficial’ travel site. It was raided January 2019 by 200 police officers.
Casey appeared at Swansea Crown Court (pictured) yesterday for a proceeds of crime hearing, which heard he was penniless with no assets available
Police took two years more to find Casey, a fugitive who was born in Ireland and who was later found by police hiding at a Leicester travellers’ site.
Later, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years in prison for conspiracy to burgle.
Eugene Hickey stated, “He was subject to the completely corrosive influences of his older criminally inclined uncles.
“He ought to have known better.”
Judge Paul Thomas ordered Casey must pay a nominal fee of £1 but said his future assets could be recovered.