Child Labour Shocker!

Swansea's longest serving councillor is quitting in disgust after a six-year-old girl was used to burgle his city home.

And if you thought that sounded a bit Dickensian…

… heroin addict Karen Toylzia Richards lifted the child into the house through a conservatory window and asked her to fetch a laptop computer.

Presumably while whistling ‘You’ve Got To pick A Pocket (Or Two)’..?

And no, the six-year-old wasn’t the daughter, either:

Brian Simpson, prosecuting, said that on the morning of August 5 the six-year-old was playing with a friend.

Richards approached and said: "Hello, girls. I've left my keys in the house. Could one of you help me?"

The child then walked with Richards to the back of a house in Vincent Street, where the defendant lifted her in through an open conservatory window.

She asked the girl to pass her a laptop and charger, then helped the child to climb back out through the window.

And that got her charged not just with theft, but with child abduction!

In a victim-impact Councillor Lloyd — a councillor for 46 years — said the crime committed at his home had left him sickened.

His wife had been so badly traumatised, he said, he no longer felt able to leave her on her own and they had spent £500 on a CCTV security system.

Councillor Lloyd said the burglary was a factor in his decision to stand down from local politics in May this year.

Yup, I’d give up on the neighbourhood too, if I was him…