Burglar Convinced Cops He Was A Builder During £135,000 Rooftop Raid

Blue Mountain Peak

Bungling cops allowed a night time burglar in a high-viz vest to continue his £135,000 safe raid at a large wholesale cash and carry after he convinced them he was up on the roof doing some building work.

Despite it being dark officers accepted the explanation and allowed 34 year-old Roma traveller Levente Gerebenes to continue breaking into Blue Mountain Peak, 4-8 Craven Park Road, Harlesden, north-west London.

When the business owners arrived in the morning they discovered the safe had been broken into and the large amount of cash taken.

Gerebenes, who claims he lived a traveller's lifestyle between Hungary and Romania before arriving in the UK in 2011 in search of casual work pleaded guilty to burgling the warehouse on March 12 and was sentenced to two years imprisonment.

Harrow Crown Court heard two neighbours called the police after spotting the defendant acting suspiciously on the roof of the large building.

"Police officers did arrive and after you claimed you were doing building work up on the roof they left," Recorder William Featherby QC told Gerebenes.

He was quickly identified by CCTV cameras and police traced him to digs the next day.

He had £70,340 cash on him, claiming he had split the haul with an accomplice even though the neighbours insist they only saw one suspect.

"This was a non-residential burglary, but I place it in the highest bracket because it was at night and because of the large value involved," added the recorder.

"You say you are thirty-four and Romanian, but you look a lot younger and have not provided any evidence of your nationality."