'Terribly wicked' woman who distracted pensioners in Havant after 'losing cat' before homes burgled is jailed

Distraction burglar Daniela Stoica, 31, left her elderly victims ‘feeling scared in their own homes’ after her ruthless deception that ‘traded on the kindness of others’. The thief knocked on her victims doors in Havant on April 26 and two days later in Surrey telling them she was looking for her lost cat. Stoica encouraged the occupants to leave their homes and enter the garden in an attempt to help her while a man entered the house to steal items from inside.

Portsmouth Crown Court heard how a 75-year-old woman ‘lost all her jewellery’ and personal items including a sentimental memento from her dead parents amounting to £30,000. The crook also manipulated a couple aged 90 and 86 in the Havant burglary.

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Judge Keith Cutler CBE said: ‘It’s sad to see a 31-year-old woman in the dock who has a mother-in-law and son and other children and is now facing a custodial sentence. You look sorry for yourself but there are people I feel more sorry for…not only your family but the elderly people you burgled.’

He added: ‘You traded on their kindness by getting them to look at cat images to allow your partner in crime to steal items. It was terribly wicked.

‘They now feel vulnerable and scared in their own homes. I’m not sure you would want that to happen to your mother-in-law.’

Stoica, of the Green, Slough, admitted two counts of dwelling burglary. Police arrested a 32-year-old man from Bristol in connection with the incident before he was released on conditional police bail.

Howard Barrington-Clark, defending, said despite Stoica’s ‘colourful background’ she was ‘undoubtedly a pawn’ and insisted she was not portrayed as an ‘international jewel thief’. He added: ‘She was the distractor not the burglar. She was playing a role she was asked to play.’

Despite this, her lawyer said she had ‘no mitigation’ for the offending and accepted immediate jail was a foregone conclusion but hoped in the future she could ‘make something better of her life’.

A tearful Stoica was then locked up for four and a half years in front of her son and mother-in-law who were watching in the public gallery.

PC Kirsty Watts, of Hampshire Constabulary’s specialist burglary team Operation Hawk, said: ‘The crimes committed by Stoica were despicable, she took advantage and abused the trust of kind people who were just trying to help her.

‘The impact of having your home burgled should not be underestimated, and I’m really pleased that we have secured this outcome for the victims in this case.

‘I hope that this sentence sends a message to those who commit this type of crime that we will take action and investigate all crimes reported to us fully, even if it means us following you across the country to disrupt your offending and prevent more innocent victims.’

PC Kat Sandys, from Surrey Police, said: ‘Crime has no borders and as this case demonstrates, we will continue to work quickly and effectively with colleagues in other forces to share information, track down offenders, and make arrests.’

For our advice on home safety visit: www.hampshire.police.uk/cp/crime-prevention/protect-home-crime/keep-burglars-out-property/