Tooled-up man caught on his way to commit burglary

A WOULD-be thief was caught with a burglar’s kit of equipment including a head torch and weapons.

Andrejz Bukowiec, 35, was stopped in a stolen car and found to have tools and other items useful for committing crimes, Leicester Crown Court was told.

Philip Gibbs, prosecuting, said: “On June 3, he was driving a vehicle with false number plates.”

The defendant was stopped by the police in Groby Road, Leicester, and the incriminating items were found inside the car.

They were a hunting knife, a lock knife, a head torch, balaclava, gloves, lock-picking tools and metal files. “It was all of a burglar’s kit,” said Mr Gibbs.

Bukowiec, of Vaughan Street, Black Friars, Leicester, admitted going equipped for theft, taking a vehicle without consent and two counts of possessing bladed articles in a public place, namely Groby Road.

Sentencing, Judge Nicholas Dean QC said: “In early June you were out in a car that wasn’t yours, that you knew had been taken without consent and you were in possession of a kit of equipment that would have allowed you to have committed burglaries and other forms of theft.

“You also had two knives in your possession.

“How they might have been used is very hard to know but you were prepared to carry them with you either for your protection or for more sinister purposes.

“You’ve written a letter to me and I hope it’s true that you’re determined not to not re-offend in future, because if you offend again in ways similar to this you will be going to prison for a long time.”

Gary Short, mitigating, said the defendant, a Polish national had been in the UK for 13 years.

He said: “He’s found his time on remand in custody somewhat difficult.”

Bukowiec was months. jailed for 10