Three defendants have been remanded in custody after pleading guilty to high value theft charges from Haverfordwest’s Boots store.

On Monday, April 26, Dyfed-Powys Police received a report just before 2pm of the theft of a number of items from the store.

A suspect vehicle was quickly identified, and a short time later it was stopped in Johnston by Pembrokeshire Roads Policing Unit.

Officers searched the car and found stolen items worth more than £1,500, and then arrested the three occupants.

23-year-old Liliana-Florentina Vatafu from Swansea, 31-year-old Stefan Marin from Swansea, and 35-year-old Marian Mihai from Brighton were all subsequently charged with theft and appeared before Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on Wednesday, April 28, where all three pleaded guilty.

All were remanded in custody, with sentencing adjourned until Wednesday, May 12.

PC Rob Garland, one of the arresting officers, who detained the three suspects, said: “We acted quickly to the report of this theft, and had very little information in respect of the suspects or vehicle to assist us in apprehending the culprits initially.

"But a suspect vehicle was swiftly identified, and the information passed to us in the Roads Policing Unit, as well as to officers in the Armed Response Unit who were in the area.

“As soon as we had this information, we immediately started looking for the vehicle, which fortunately I was able to quickly locate and stop outside of Johnston on the road towards Milford Haven.

“It is very pleasing that within 48 hours the suspects had been charged, appeared in court and remanded until their sentencing.

“The court’s positive action sends a strong message that offences such as this are taken seriously and robust prosecution is to be expected. This also demonstrates that criminals who travel into the counties of Dyfed-Powys will be detected and apprehended swiftly.”