Violent thug burgled Leeds city-centre flat as family slept
A thug who brutally beat victims unconscious in the street to steal their phones has admitted burgling a city-centre flat.
Marius Mihai was handed a six-year jail sentence in October for the six sickening robberies.
The 19-year-old appeared at Leeds Crown Court again this week where he admitted a dwelling burglary and theft.
He appeared via video link from HMP Doncaster.
A couple had returned to their one-bedroom flat on Concorde Street in central Leeds on April 22, 2022, but it was thought they accidentally left the keys and fob in the door to the complex.
They went to bed but woke at 5am the next door and found their front door open. The items missing included a Samsung phone, an iPhone, a Dell laptop, an Apple watch and bank cards.
The total value of the items ran to £1,800, prosecutor Rachel Webster told the court.
Mihai, who was only 17 at the time, was spotted on CCTV and police were able to arrest him, but he denied it was him on the footage.
Mitigating Charles Blatchford said it was more of an opportunistic crime, rather than planned because he came across the keys.
Judge Richard Mansell KC gave him 16 months’ jail, but it will not run consecutively to his existing jail sentence for the robberies.
Mihai had committed the crimes between May and July, usually in the early hours
One victim suffered a fractured cheek bone, and another had his teeth knocked out.
In one attack, Mihai lurked near a 53-year-old man before punching the unsuspecting victim in the head, causing him to collapse.
He then rained further blows on the semi-conscious man as he struggled to remove his watch before taking it, along with his phone and leather jacket.
The shocking incident was caught on CCTV and circulated by West Yorkshire Police.