Man wakes to find burglar hiding in his Wolverhampton bedroom

Homeless Andres Balog carried out two burglaries in the same street in Wolverhampton late last year.

On both occasions he woke the occupants, even pretending he knew someone in the house of his second victims.

Balog targeted homes in Fisher Street, Penn Fields, in December last year.

Neil Ahuja, prosecuting, told Wolverhampton Crown Court that Balog, who pleaded guilty to burglary, had entered the first home through an upstairs bedroom window that had been left open to allow a cat to get back to the first floor flat.

However, he woke a man asleep in the room who heard a noise and noticed a pair of legs beneath the curtains when he went to investigate.

Mr Ahuja said: "He shouted out a challenge and the man quickly made his escape."

A bag of clothing belonging to the occupant was left behind.

His mobile phone was also taken.

DNA on the clothing bag matched Balog's profile.

On the second occasion a couple of weeks later, he woke members of an Asian family who heard a noise and found Balog standing in the flat.

"The defendant was standing there saying 'hello' and pretending there was someone there that he knew," Mr Ahuja said.

He was pushed out by the boyfriend of one of the family members, who subsequently found a laptop was missing.

Simon Hanns, mitigating, said Balog came to the UK following the death of his mother and was given work by a fellow Slovakian national.

However, when the work ran out, his Employer encouraged him to turn to crime.

Judge John Wait said: "Burglary of someone's home is always a serious offence.

"It leaves people feeling distressed and insecure.

"You did not know it at the time, but the property you took in the first burglary was a mobile phone which was the only means of contact that the man had with his family."

Balog was sentenced to 27 months in prison and is set to be deported.