Jail for man who tried to sell stolen goods to man whose house he had taken them from

A thief who tried to sell the goods he had stolen back to the man they belonged to has been jailed. Preston Crown Court heard Daniel Ciamara, 26, was caught out when he went to trade the stolen Blu-ray player and discs in for cash at Park Computers in Blackburn, Lancashire. But when shop assistant David Harrison went to check the items over he noticed they seemed familiar and realised they were from his own home.



Quick thinking Mr Harrison told the burglar he would need to check the Blu-ray player was working and asked him to come back in an hour. Speaking after the case, Mr Harrison, 60, said: “At first I didn’t think because he had all his ID ready. Then I thought ‘this looks a bit familiar and this, and this ... I’d best go and check.’ Once I had my suspicions they got stronger and stronger and that is when we asked him to leave the player with us so we could test it out. It was a decoy.”

The court heard once Ciamara left the store, Mr Harrison hot-footed it back to his house nearby to discover the door had been kicked in and his player and films were missing. The court heard when Ciamara returned to the store he was greeted by the police who arrested him on suspicion of burglary. Ciamara pleaded guilty to the offence, which took place in 2013, at Blackburn Magistrates’ Court. But after being granted bail he returned to his homeland of Poland and failed to return to court to be sentenced.



Officers from Lancashire police applied for a European Arrest Warrant and last week brought Ciamara back to Lancashire to face justice. Recorder Nicholas Clarke QC, sentencing, said: “He has abused his hospitality here. He has committed an offence here. He deserves to go to custody for a period.” He jailed Ciamara for four months with two months to run concurrently for the breach of bail. Speaking after the case, Mr Harrison said: “It sends out a message that the police will track down people who commit burglaries. They can’t get away with it. He’s either the unluckiest thief or the stupidest. I’m just glad I got my property back.”