Who’s a silly boy, then? Burglar is caught red-handed... by a parrot
A SeRIAL burglar who sneaked into a couple’s home at night was no match for their crime-fighting pet.
However it was not a guard dog that brought the crook to justice – it was a parrot. Rocky the 20-year- old African grey savaged Vitalij Kiseliov, causing the Lithuanian-born thief to bleed and allowing police to obtain crucial DNA evidence against him.
The burglar entered the home of Peter Rowing, 72, and his wife Trudy, 70, in Gillingham, Kent, in June. He took a laptop computer and a phone worth £1,500 before spotting Rocky, who is worth about £500, in his cage.
Kiseliov, 37, tried to grab the parrot – but Rocky bit him on the hand several times before he threw the bird out of a window. He then stole took two oxygen tanks used by Mrs Rowing, who has breathing difficulties, and four cans of lager.
But as a result of Rocky’s attack, Kiseliov left bloodstains dotted around the house, Maidstone Crown Court was told. Police matched it using a DNA database. He was arrested and has now been jailed for four years.
Yesterday Mr Rowing said: ‘The man got more than he bargained for when he tried to steal Rocky. He threw Rocky out of the win- dow and someone found him and passed him to the RSPCA. We were able to prove that Rocky was our bird and he was reunited with us a few days later. He was very shaken for a good few days but is back to normal now.’
The court heard that Kiseliov had committed six other burglaries in the area. Police discovered that in 1999 he had been jailed for more than three years in Lithuania for burglary. He was also jailed for 14 months for burglary last year when he appeared at Woolwich Crown Court in South east London.
Kiseliov, who admitted six burglaries in Gillingham last month, was told that he will be deported at the end of his four-year sentence.