'I was talked into it': Raider targeted bungalow while elderly couple slept
A Romanian who burgled an elderly couple's bungalow while they slept later claimed he was talked into it and taken advantage of by his friend.
Adrian Lacatus and at least one other burglar broke into the pensioners' Stourbridge home in the early hours of February 10.
They stole items including an iPhone, a Samsung mobile and a Sat Nav before being disturbed by the husband. They then fled.
The 24 year old admitted the burglary after a jumper he left at the bungalow containing his DNA was recovered by police. But he told probation officers he was drunk and was following the lead of his friend.
Mr Jamie Scott, defending, said: "In interview my client states the offence was his friend's idea.
"Mr Lacatus was drunk at the time and, while that should be quite properly treated as an aggravating feature, the fact he was drunk supported his suggestion that his friend took the lead and perhaps took advantage of him.
"It is supported further by the fact that the goods taken were retained entirely by my client's friend who very shortly afterwards returned to Romania. My client drew absolutely no benefit from this offence."
The court heard how the couple – aged 70 and 69 – had been asleep in their bungalow when the burglars entered through a kitchen window at around 2am.
Lacatus, of High Street, Lye, was arrested in July after he was traced via his DNA on the jumper he left on the bungalow's patio.
He was jailed for 28 months at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Wednesday.
A victim statement read by Miss Ruck said the couple had suffered physical and mental distress in addition to financial loss.
It added the husband suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and that his condition had worsened since the burglary.
Miss Ruck told the court Lacatus had previous convictions in Romania for aggravated theft and burglary. He moved to the UK in 2014.
Mr Scott, defending, added his client was in poverty when he carried out the burglary.
He said: "He was suffering, despite working, from a degree of destitution.
"Although he was working it seems he was working for a rather unscrupulous employer.
"He was struggling with the costs of day-to-day living and when a friend suggested they burgle a house he took that opportunity."
Judge Nicholas Cartwright questioned Lacatas's claim he took a secondary role in the burglary.
He said: "I don't accept you were in any way exploited. Your previous convictions contradict that suggestion.
"I strongly suspect you targeted this property because you thought it was just the kind of property to be occupied by elderly and therefore vulnerable people."
