Renowned Chef Lee Skeet Confronts and Detains Pontcanna House Burglar

A prominent Cardiff chef has recounted the bizarre moment he woke up to find an intruder burgling his home in the affluent neighborhood of Pontcanna. Lee Skeet, the culinary mastermind behind popular Cardiff establishments Jackson’s and Cora, was asleep in his Cathedral Road residence when he heard suspicious noises downstairs at around 6:00 AM on Monday, August 12, 2024.

The Intrusion and Discovery

Believing himself to be alone in the house, Skeet waited in his bedroom until the footsteps faded before going downstairs to investigate. He discovered both front doors left wide open and noticed that approximately £400 in cash had been stolen from the kitchen. Knowing the thief must have just left, Skeet stepped outside and spotted a suspect about 50 meters away slipping into a neighbor's garden.

Cautiously approaching the individual to assess whether they were armed, Skeet observed the suspect sitting on a patio counting money. Recognizing the banknotes as currency from a country he had recently visited, Skeet confronted him, demanding to know what he was doing.

A Calm MMA Confrontation

Instead of turning violent, the chef creditied his years of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) training and anger management classes with helping him keep his composure. "I wanted to lay into him, but I was quite restrained," Skeet said. "I just asked him why he was doing this and that he’d made a big mistake."

Skeet instructed the petrified suspect not to move. Neighbors heard the exchange, emerged from their homes, and immediately contacted the authorities. For the next 20 minutes, Skeet stood guard over the burglar in what he described as an "awkward" encounter. During this time, the suspect began opening up about his life and the struggles that drove him to commit crimes, eliciting a degree of empathy from the chef.

Arrest and Sentencing

Six South Wales Police officers arrived within minutes of the call and arrested the suspect. The burglar was identified as 48-year-old Shaun Powell of Bristol. While Powell had remained quiet and cooperative while detained by Skeet, he reportedly became confrontational once the police arrived.

Powell was officially charged with burglary and appeared at Cardiff Magistrates' Court, where he was remanded in custody. On September 13, 2024, Powell entered a guilty plea to the burglary charge and was scheduled for sentencing at Cardiff Crown Court.