Stourbridge shotgun thief jailed after bragging on WhatsApp during break-in

Daniel Kowolik grabbed the haul of three shotguns and a rifle from the locked cabinet of their owner who had a licence to keep them.

The 25-year-old regular drug user struck at the address in Vicarage Road, Stourbridge after befriending the 'vulnerable' son of the family – and even bragged about the haul on the instant messaging service WhatsApp during the break-in, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

One declared: 'Doing a burg,' while others referred to the guns, revealed Mr Jonathan Cox, prosecuting, who continued: "He was looking to off load these lethal weapons to friends and acquaintances. They could well have ended up in the hands of those with links to the supply of controlled drugs."

The firearms - a semi-automatic 12 bore, side by side 12 bore, over and under shot gun and bolt action rifle with silencer, all in good working order and worth a total of £2,000 - were stolen along with a lap top and a safe while the owner and his wife were out on March 12.

Kowolik was suggested as a suspect by their son who had previously had his credit card stolen and used to withdraw money by the defendant who was arrested later the same day.

But he no longer had the guns and would not help police to trace their whereabouts, said Mr Cox. He added: "This was clearly a targeted burglary committed with the intention of stealing firearms."

Mr Simon Hanns, defending, admitted that Kowolik knew the son of the family and had stolen from him in the past. The lawyer maintained: "He has a bad record but there is no evidence that he personally sold the firearms or received any gain for himself since he was arrested so soon after the offence. We have to use a certain amount of guesswork as to what really happened."

Kowolik from Church Hill, Brierley Hill who had 10 previous convictions involving 24 offences, admitted burglary and illegal possession of firearms. He was jailed by Judge Amjad Nawaz who told him: "You befriended the son who you had known for some time and was vulnerable.

"You managed to gain entry to the house, got the keys to the gun cabinet and removed these firearms while displaying a degree of bravado by sending text messages while in the throes of the crime.

"The guns have not been recovered and the frightening fact from the public's perspective is that they are out there in the hands of who knows who."