Burglar’s ‘barefaced cheek’ act
A BURGLAR who raided a vulnerable man’s flat returned to the scene of the crime and asked for his bank card and drugs back.
Jan Kandrac had sneaked into the man’s flat while he slept on the sofa and stole his TV and other items – but he left his tobacco tin and debit card behind.
The burglar pawned the man’s telly before returning to the flat to ask for his possessions back – an act a judge described as showing “barefaced cheek”. In the weeks after the house burglary Kandrac broke into a pub and stole speakers and karaoke equipment, and then entered the staff-only area of a supermarket and went through employee’s coat pockets and bags.
Cardiff Crown Court heard the defendant moved to Wales from his native Slovakia as a teenager and worked in a series of labouring and factory jobs before becoming addicted to crack cocaine.
Byron Broadstock, prosecuting, said in July this year Kandrac entered the Newport flat of a disabled man who was sleeping on the sofa in his living room and stole his television, DVD player, and phone. The victim knew nothing about the burglary until waking and finding his possessions were missing. Then he spotted a tobacco tin which the intruder had apparently dropped during the break-in – inside was a bank card in the name of Jan Kandrac along with what the homeowner assumed were drugs. Meanwhile, 28-year-old Kandrac had taken the stolen items to a pawn shop and sold them for £15.
The prosecutor said the day after the burglary Kandrac returned to the flat and began knocking on the front door asking for his tobacco tin back. The victim didn’t answer but a neighbour who heard the commotion was able to take a photo of the caller.
The court heard that in the weeks which followed Kandrac burgled The Talisman pub in Newport and stole karaoke equipment and speakers worth around £1,500 which he tried to pawn – but on this occasion suspicious staff declined the transaction – and then he entered the staff area of the Sainsbury’s supermarket in the Kingsway Centre. He was spotted going through staff members’ bags and coat pockets and the police were called – and when he stepped out of the staff lift on the ground floor he was arrested.
Kandrac, of Ebenezer Terrace, Newport,
had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary, one of attempted burglary with intent to steal, and to one count of fraud by false representation when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has previous convictions for drug-driving and was subject to a suspended prison sentence when he carried out the burglaries.
Owen Williams, for Kandrac, said the defendant moved from Slovakia to Wales at the age of 13. He said the defendant became addicted to crack cocaine and the burglaries were committed in order to fund that habit. He added that Kandrac was a father of three but his wife and children had moved back to Slovakia and, upon his release from custody, the defendant wants to be reunited with his family.
Recorder Ifan Wyn Lloyd Jones told Kandrac the burglary committed against a vulnerable disabled man as he slept was an extremely serious offence, and he said the defendant had the “barefaced cheek” to turn up at the flat and expect the return of the items dropped during the break-in.
With a one-quarter discount for his guilty pleas, Kandrac was sentenced to two years in prison. He will serve up to half in custody before being released on licence.