A judge has warned burglars they will go to prison when he locked up a teenager who ignored a police caution for house-breaking.
Judge Jonathan Rose told Richard Olah: “Your legal advocate says you are stupid and foolish.
“I disagree with that. You are a criminal. You are a burglar.
“You were dealt with leniently with a caution last year. It was a warning you ignored.”
Olah, 19, of Springfield Avenue, Scholemoor, Bradford, was sent to a young offender institution for 16 months.
He was committed to Bradford Crown Court for sentence after pleading guilty before magistrates to burgling a house on Great Horton Road in the city on October 24.
Prosecutor Camille Morland said Olah and his friends were guests at the home of their victim, Damian Klozyk.
After socialising with him, they left, leaving open a window so they could sneak back in later and take his TV and DVD player, valued at a total of £1,000.
CCTV footage showed Olah, a Czech national, outside the property where he acted as look-out and took the stolen goods when they were passed to him through the window.
Miss Morland said Mr Klozyk was at home asleep when his home was raided.
Last year, Olah was cautioned for burglary when he used the same method to steal from a house where he had been a guest.
His solicitor advocate, Ash Mahmood, said it was only after he left Mr Klozyk’s home that he was told the window had been left open so it could be burgled.
He was promised money from the sale of the stolen property if he helped to take it but received nothing.
Olah came to the UK with his family seven years ago and had been looking for work.
Judge Rose told Olah: “Having been a guest in this man’s home, one of your group opened a window as a premeditated action to burgle it that night.
“You were warned by the caution and you will have to take your punishment now.
“Burglars go to prison. You are going to prison for 16 months.”
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