Burglar ‘looking for drug money’ HE OFFERED TO PAY FOR THE DAMAGE
A MAN and a 14-year-old boy were caught trying to break into a Quarmby house after being told that there was £60,000 inside.
Stephen Brauner, 20, and the schoolboy were recruited to burgle the property in the belief that a drug dealer had stashed the cash there.
The pair caused substantial damage as they first used a crowbar and then stones as they desperately tried to gain access to the home in Quarmby Road.
Following his arrest, Brauner offered to pay for the property he’d wrecked – if the owners submitted a receipt.
He pleaded guilty to attempted burglary when he appeared at Kirklees Magistrates’ Court yesterday.
Shamaila Qureshi, prosecuting, said that Brauner and the boy attended at the house shortly after noon on February 20.
They removed the property’s CCTV camera and then used a crowbar as they tried to force their way inside.
Damage was caused to a drainpipe and a door and its frame as they attempted to prise it open.
Mrs Qureshi added that in a final “desperate” attempt to get in, the pair then threw some stones through the porch window but this damaged floor tiles and a fridge inside, bringing the total damage caused to an estimated £1,000.
They fled as a neighbour disturbed them and the female owner returned home to find the damage caused and recognised Brauner after viewing the CCTV footage.
The boy involved in the offence was arrested and cautioned by police over the incident.
Brauner also admitted involvement, claiming that he’d found the crowbar in the garden and used it to try to break in.
Mrs Qureshi told magistrates: “The defendant said he was told that there was £60,000 in the house belonging to a drug dealer and he was going to go in and get that money.
“It was preplanned and he was aware there was a lot of money stashed inside.
“He said he was going to spend it and when it was put to him that he caused £1,000 damage he said if they could bring a receipt for all the items he would pay for the damage.”
Magistrates were told that Brauner, of The Crescent in Dewsbury, had a string of previous convictions to his name.
The majority of these were committed when he was a youth and included public order offences and a burglary.
Jonathan Slawinski, mitigating, said that his client was “sucked into” committing the offence by two individuals well known to police.
He told magistrates: “He was under the illusion that there was a large amount of money in the address and put up to recover that money.”
Magistrates committed Brauner to Leeds Crown Court for sentencing on April 3.
In the meantime he is banned from going to Quarmby Road and must not contact the complainants.