TWO men have been accused of breaking into a Grade II listed mansion and attempting to steal a painting.

Sergii Rosinkhin, of Quakers Place in the Forest Gate area of London, and Kristians Blevie, of Mowbray Close in Epping, appeared at Swansea Crown Court charged with burglary at Golden Grove/Gelli Aur mansion in Llandeilo.

The pair were accused of entering Gelli Aur House as trespassers on January 19 last year with intent to steal.

Blevie, 40, and 39-year-old Rosinkhin both pleaded not guilty.

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Prosecutor Alycia Carpanini said the defendants were alleged to have been stopped by the police on the upper floor of the house at around 4pm on that date.

They were accused of being in possession of a painting of a woman and an ornament.

The court heard the pair had told officers they had been “hiking around Wales” when they came across the mansion, and “curiosity got the better of them and they went inside to take pictures”.

Judge Huw Rees ordered the trial will take place from January 27, and re-admitted both defendants to bail.

The Golden Grove Estate was privately owned until 2011, when it was turned over to the public with a board of trustees. The estate was closed to the public in March 2023 because of increasing liabilities.

New trustees took over the management of the Golden Grove Estate last year, tasked with caring for the buildings, gardens, arboretum and deer park.

The new trustees faced a number of setbacks, including past mismanagement, damage from a leak in the roof, and the deterioration of the building and park.

In March, it was confirmed that £4,271 was raised in a Crowdfunding campaign to raise funds to preserve the estate in the hope of re-opening it to the public in the future.