David McCouid targeted a number of victims during his extensive burglary spree. The first offence reportedly took place on Sunday, April 19 when a woman heard a "commotion" coming from her neighbour's garden on St Paul’s Road in Rock Ferry around 2am. She went outside to check her neighbour was OK and heard a man shout for help, claiming he was stuck inside the garden. He told her he was homeless and had been sheltering in a tent.
Wanting to help the man, the mum, who the ECHO has not named, invited him into her home and gave him "a lager and a few cigs". She previously told the ECHO how she'd been drinking at home with her friend on that night. She said: "It wasn't the wisest thing to invite him into my home, I know. But, I'd had a bit to drink and I wanted to help him." Once inside, the man, who said he was 41 and from Liverpool, revealed he'd been "grafting" houses all night. Knowing he meant stealing, she says she immediately told the man to leave and he did.
The following morning the mum spoke with her neighbour who said he'd found a man in his kitchen at around 9pm on Saturday, April 18. Warning people to be vigilant, she added: "My neighbour is petrified, he's vulnerable. No matter what people think we look after each other in Rock Ferry we're a community, we all look out for one another." The incident was reported to Merseyside Police, which confirmed an investigation was launched. At the time the force said: "On Sunday, April 19 we received a report of a burglary at a house on St Paul’s Road that occurred on Saturday evening. It was reported that a man entered the property and ate some food whilst he was inside the kitchen. The man then left the house and hid inside a tent in the garden. It was later reported that at around 2.30am on Sunday, April 19 a woman heard a man shouting for help and let him into her house on the same road. The woman then asked the man to leave. Officers are reviewing CCTV footage and an investigation is ongoing in the area."
Days later, on April 22, after trying the door handles of two cars, McCouid, 41, entered a home in Curzon Park in Chester and stole a bank card belonging to a dead woman, Patricia Pawson. He then made his way to an Esso petrol station in Saltney, where he used the bank card to purchase more than £50 worth of goods. North Wales Police then received reports of an incident at Salon Bliss on Saltney High Street, in Flintshire, where a mobile phone was stolen.
The force arrested McCouid, of Sidney Street, Birkenhead, who was later charged in connection with two counts of burglary and three counts of vehicle interference. He was also charged with fraud and possession of a knife. McCouid appeared before Mold Magistrates' Court on April 23 where he was remanded into custody to appear before Mold Crown Court on May 14. The court heard how McCouid admitted to the offences, including entering a home on St Paul's Road, where he ate food, a burglary at a salon and Tesco. Prosecuting, Joseph Lees, told the court McCouid had 45 previous convictions for 99 offences, 57 of which were theft and related matters. He was sentenced to two years in prison.
McCouid was also previously banned from entering almost the entirety of Liverpool city centre after he targeted a number of businesses including restaurants, a chemist and a beauty salon over a number of days in November 2024, while the subject of a criminal behaviour order. You can read more about this on the ECHO website.
