An
elderly couple returned from holiday to find a “Goldilocks” burglar asleep in
their bed.
Lukasz
Chojnowski, 28, broke in and spent two days treating their house as his own.
He
enjoyed a perfumed bubble bath, cooked himself dinner and even tidied the home
of Pat Dyson, 73, and her partner Martin Holtby, 78.
The
pair returned to find a chicken fillet and pasta dinner had been prepared,
dinner plates, post and newspapers had been neatly stacked and his socks and
underwear were hanging out to dry.
In
their bedroom they found their unexpected guest happily snoozing.
Mr
Holtby exclaimed: “There is someone sleeping in our bed and he is still here.”
Chojnowski
eventually awoke to find the couple and a policewoman peering at him.
He
later claimed he had been evicted from his regular lodgings and thought the
couple’s terraced house was “derelict”.
At
Burnley Crown Court, Lancs, Chojnowski, an upholsterer admitted burglary and
theft.
The
court heard he broke in last July after retired couple left their home in Nelson
for a sightseeing trip.
Laura
Heywood, solicitor for Chojnowski, said: “The defendant chose the house because
he initially thought it was empty.
"He
said the garden was overgrown and he entered. At that point, he must have known
somebody was residing there. He stayed there for two days, hoping the owners
wouldn’t return, out of necessity, because he didn’t have anywhere else to
stay.”
Prosecutor
Tim Ashmole said when the couple returned they went into the kitchen and found
bags of pasta, processed cheese and the chicken fillets on the worktops.
Mr
Ashmole said: “Mr Holtby went upstairs and his partner heard him say: 'What are
you doing? Get out, get up.'
The
prosecutor added: “In short, the defendant was making himself very much at home
in their address.
"It’s
quite an extraordinary state of affairs to come across.
“The
Crown’s case is he just took pot luck, hoping that nobody would come back in
the immediate future.
"He
looked though some jewellery boxes, but he did not take anything. He was using
the home as a cosy little hideaway.”
Chojnowski,
now of Bury, was given a two year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £200
costs.
The
judge Mr Recorder Raymond Herman said: “It would appear you entered this
property not with any deep intent to be dishonest, but simply as somewhere to
live and probably hide for some days.
"You
were looking for somewhere to live in some sort of desperation.
“It’s
right to say Mrs Dyson and Mr Holtby are at pains to ensure the court
understands that they feel you left the house in a neat and tidy condition and
from that I infer they feel some sympathy for you.”
After
the case Mrs Dyson said: “The post and papers were neatly stacked in a pile and
there were plates neatly stacked on the draining board and he had obviously
made himself dinner.
"I
was calling police when Martin said ‘Pat - there is someone sleeping in our bed
and he’s still here.’
"It
was just like something out of Goldilocks.
“We
prodded him to wake him up but he just moaned and went deeper into the covers.
"As
I walked back to go downstairs I noticed there was water in the bath and the
towels had been left on the floor all wet.
"I
also noticed he had done his washing. He had put the airer up and put his
smalls and t-shirts out to dry.”
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