A burglar has been jailed for 10 months after he ransacked a ground floor flat in Hove.
Allan Kazimi, 23, stole two laptops, an iPad Air, a PlayStation – along with three controllers and about 20 games – as well as watches, jewellery and £1,200 cash.
He was caught after leaving his fingerprints at the scene of the break-in – a ground-floor flat in Sackville Road, Hove.
This afternoon (Tuesday 21 February) at Hove Crown Court he was sent to prison for 10 months and ordered to serve at least half his sentence before being released on licence.
Richard Sedgwick, prosecuting, said that Kazimi had not only left fingerprints at the scene. When his mobile phone records were checked, they suggested that he had been in the area and made or received calls.
Mr Sedgwick told Hove Crown Court that some of the items stolen by Kazimi in the burglary last March were found in a secondhand shop in Tunbridge Wells.
“It is fair to say that the property was ransacked,” Mr Sedgwick said.
Robert Gregory, defending, said that Kazimi was a Kurdish asylum seeker from Iran who was sofa surfing in Maidstone, Kent. His partner, who is British, had a baby five weeks ago.
Like Kazimi, the victims of the burglary – Ismael Purkarim and Saman Mohamad – were also from the Kurdish community.
Mr Gregory added: “This was a desperate act by a desperate individual.
“He hasn’t been able to work or claim benefits because of his asylum status.”
An opportunity presented itself, Mr Gregory said, and he acknowledged that the loss of £1,200 was a significant sum to a man who was washing cars for a living.
The judge, Mr Recorder John Bate-Williams, said: “You came from Iran in 2011 as an asylum seeker and this is the way you repay the hospitality that was given you.
“It plays into the hands of those who see asylum seekers as suspect and unwelcome.
“You stole a significant quantity of electronic equipment, jewellery and accessories.
“Your original defence statement contained what can only be described as nonsense.”
Misery
Kazimi said that he had been at home the whole time and that his fingerprints were found as a result of the evidence being contaminated.
He denied having been in Hove but, on the day that he was due to go on trial by jury, he changed his plea to guilty. While he was on bail, magistrates banned him from entering Sussex.
The judge spoke of the real misery felt by victims of burglary who come home to find a mess as well as suffering a loss of all that has been stolen from them.
And he said that photographs submitted in evidence showed “the shocking state of the flat” after Kazimi had ransacked it.
He also said that Kazimi had a previous conviction, in 2014, for assaulting two police officers.
“This offence was so serious,” the judge said, “that only an immediate custodial sentence is appropriate.”
The judge also recognised the way in which Detective Sergeant Leon Ryan, a Sussex Police officer stationed in Brighton, had brought Kazimi to justice.
He said: “This is an example of very good police work and those responsible should be commended.”
