Shropshire family woken by burglar in home

Karel Macha, 31, was caught hiding in the garage of one of the properties in Norton View, Craven Arms, in the early hours of July 15 after the householders woke up.

Shrewsbury Crown Court heard that Macha worked in the area and had been drinking the night before he committed the crimes.

It was reported that £40 was missing from one of the houses. Hunter Gray, prosecuting, said a family couple and their two young children living at one of the addresses was disturbed when a bedroom door was opened in the middle of the night and the mother woke up.

Mr Gray said: “She believed it was their son and told him to come in, but the door closed, which she thought was unusual. She became suspicious went to investigate and woke her partner. They both went downstairs and saw that a curtain had been moved.

"The man saw that the internal garage door was open and when he switched on the light he saw a male crouching down. The male said ‘sorry mate’ with an eastern European accent and ran away out of the premises.”

The court heard nothing had been taken from the address.

But Mr Gray said that shortly before, at about 12.30am, the couple’s neighbour a Mr Lewis, was woken by a noise in his house.

Mr Gray said: “He went to investigate and was surprised to see his living room window open. He noticed that £40 cash that had been in his wallet had been taken and it was clear that some drawers had been opened and looked through. The police were notified.

"Then about a fortnight later on July 28 one of the victims was in the Station Cafe which appears to be next to where the defendant lives. He entered the cafe at about 10.45 and he recognised him The police were contacted and Macha was arrested.

"Palm prints later found on a banister at one of the houses matched his.

"In his interview he denied the offences although he recalled that on the night in question he had consumed a large quantity of alcohol and he cannot remember what he had done that evening, but he pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.”

Macha admitted two counts of burglary.

Debra White, defending, said Macha had no previous convictions and had been working in the country for six years.

She asked Judge Jonathan Gosling to give him a suspended jail term.

“He apologises for his actions and he cannot account for them,” Miss White said.

But the judge told Macha: “These are two very serious burglaries carried out in the dead of night. Either you didn’t check or didn’t care whether there were occupants in the houses. In fact there was a family in the second house and a man in the first and both were awakened, disturbed and traumatised.”

He jailed Macha for 18 months for the incident at the family home and six months for the other burglary to run consecutively. Macha must serve half of the term before being released on licence, minus the days already served on remand.