NIGHT PROWLER IS ‘BOGUS REFUGEE’
Brother of serial burglar says: He’s NOT from Kosovo ... he’s an Albanian
‘Creeping around our gardens’
‘Coincided with the burglaries’
A NOTORIOUS cat burglar who raided the homes of the rich and famous for ten years came to Britain as a bogus Kosovan refugee, his brother said last night.
After an astonishing crime spree that saw him nicknamed the ‘Wimbledon Prowler’, Asdrit Kapaj, 42, pleaded guilty yesterday to a string of burglaries.
The married father- of- two admitted stealing jewellery and cash – believed to be worth at least £500,000 – during 21 burglaries in the wealthy London suburb dating back to 2008.
It has previously been suggested that he is responsible for many more raids, with a total value as high as £10million, which would make him one of Europe’s most prolific thieves.
A court heard yesterday that Kapaj is a Kosovan citizen who came to the UK as a teenager in the 1990s. But last night his oldest brother Nexhip Kapaj cast serious doubt over his claims, saying he is in fact Albanian. He told the Daily Mail that his brother was born in a hospital near the village of Gjorm, about 20 miles from the city of Vlore in southern Albania, in 1977, and has no links to Kosovo.
His brother Nexhip said that claiming to be a Kosovan was the easiest way for Albanians to gain entry to the UK. Last night the Home office said it would not comment on the burglar’s case, but UK officials are likely to be investigating his background.
In the 1990s, during the former Yugoslavia’s civil war, many Albanians said they were Kosovan refugees because their claim to live in Britain was far more likely to be accepted. If he is indeed Albanian, he may have had no right to settle in the UK.
Last night Kapaj’s victims in Wimbledon Village were celebrating the end of his reign of terror, with some saying they would hold a drinks party to celebrate his guilty pleas. Many attended Kingston Crown Court in south-west London yesterday to watch him admit his crimes.
Laurie Porter, chairman of the Wimbledon Safer Neighbourhood Police Panel, said: ‘People had always been aware that he was creeping around our gardens, and I think I can speak for most of us when I say we are sleeping more easily now he has been caught. I am very grateful to the police for finally apprehending him.’ Kapaj regularly drove 220 miles in his Mercedes to Wimbledon to carry out the raids, it emerged in court. At the time he was living in Altrincham, near Manchester, living a seemingly quiet and unassuming life with his wife and running a fish and chip shop.
He recently sold the takeaway and yesterday the new owners told of their shock that he had carried out the crimes.
one man, who did not want to give his name, said: ‘I still find it incredible that he found the time to travel down to London and carry out these burglaries.’
Police spent a decade fruitlessly searching for Kapaj. He appears to have almost exclusively targeted homes surrounding the AllEngland Lawn Tennis Club in the upmarket SW19 postcode.
He was fastidious, only striking at night after climbing drainpipes and ladders to avoid alarms.
He slipped between gardens and had a network of routes which he knew he could exploit to avoid walking around in public.
He previously worked as an electrical engineer and could disable CCTV cameras. He was finally arrested on February 22 this year after being stopped outside a house carrying a torch, pen knife and wearing gloves and a snood.
Kapaj had the keys to his Mercedes on him. When detectives checked the number plate on their ANPR recognition systems, they found his journeys down from Manchester coincided with many of the burglaries.
Kapaj gave his nationality in court as Yugoslavian. When asked for more information by the judge, defence barrister Hugh Mullan QC said his client was a ‘Serbian Kosovan’ who came to Britain age 16 in the 1990s and had been granted indefinite leave to remain. He added that his client was ‘half Serbian and half Albanian’.
Kapaj admitted 21 counts of burglary, two counts of attempted burglary and a further count of going equipped for burglary.
He is also charged with three more burglaries, although the Crown Prosecution Service has not decided if it will proceed with them. one relates to the home of tennis champion Boris Becker.
Kapaj’s lawyer did not respond to a request to comment when asked about his client’s claims to be Kosovan last night.