Burglar ‘got the correct sentence’
SENIOR JUDGES DISMISS APPEAL BY £20,000 HOUSE RAIDER
A MAN jailed for a £20,000 burglary got the proper sentence his crime deserved, top judges have ruled.
Farhan Ismail Loonat (27), of Scraptoft Lane, Leicester, was jailed for four-and-a-half years at Leicester Crown Court on March 20.
He admitted burglary and intentionally encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence.
A woman was in bed at home in Leicester Forest East, with her granddaughter in the house, on October 11.
She woke to find someone threatening her with a knife, Mrs Justice May told London’s Appeal Court yesterday.
The intruder demanded to know where her gold was, then “viciously assaulted” her before she passed out.
A total of £20,000 worth of property, including gold, bags and clothing, a wedding ring and other items of sentimental value, was stolen.
Loonat’s fingerprint and palm print were found at the scene, the judge said.
But his descrip- tion did not match that of the attacker and the Crown accepted that it was not Loonat.
His other crime involved making and receiving calls in March last year to a serving prisoner at HMP Peterborough, who had a phone illegally in his cell.
We cannot say there was anything wrong with the approach that the judge took.
Mrs Justice May
Lawyers for Loonat, who had one previous conviction for making threats to kill, argued his jail term was far too tough and should be reduced. However, issuing her ruling at the Appeal Court this week, Mrs Justice May said: “We cannot say there was anything wrong with the approach that the judge took.” Sitting with Judge Geoffrey Marson QC, she said: “This was an entirely proper sentence.
“The appeal is dismissed.”