Homeowner who forgot his wallet returns to find Romanian family moving in in scene from 'Dickensian times'



A householder returned home after forgetting his wallet - only to discover a Romanian family had moved in.

In what a judge described as a 'Dickensian' spectacle, an immigrant couple with a child in tow had broken in through a window and were making themselves at home.

Mihai and Laura Dediu told the stunned homeowner they were moving into his two-bedroom house because they had heard it was empty, a court was told.

The homeowner is thought to have left the house for no more than an hour.



Forcing their way in: Mihai and Laura Dediu say they moved into the home after being told it had been empty for some time

Target: The man, who lives alone in this two bedroom end-of-terrace house, was astounded to discover the Romanian family moving his belongings out

When he returned to collect the wallet he had forgotten, he found the couple inside and called the police.

The judge dealing with the case was incredulous at the details unfolded at Northampton Crown Court.

'The owner comes back at 5pm and there's an unknown car parked in his drive and the lights to the house are on,' Judge Richard Bray told the court.

'He goes in and finds these two defendants and, wait for it, a young child. We're going back to Dickensian times, it appears.

'When challenged, the defendants say they own the property and are just moving in and that the male defendant was going to alter the locks as part of that process.'

Sentencing the Dedius to 100 hours' community service with a 12-month community order, he added: 'This is a bizarre case. I must be the most experienced person in this building for burglary and in 26 years I cannot remember a case where burglars have taken a young child with them to carry out the burglary. I really can't.'

Judge Richard Bray on the Romanian squatters: 'We are going back to Dickensian times it appears'

Dediu, 30, and his 24-year-old wife admitted criminal damage to windows and locks while forcing their way in to the house in Northampton on December 7 last year.

The pair said a Romanian man they met in a shop told them they could squat in the house because it was empty, the court heard.

Michael Waterfield, prosecuting, said: 'It may have been that's what the defendants were told, but once they got into the house they would certainly have realised it was still occupied. They were taking clothes from the cupboards.'

A burglary charge, which carries a maximum jail sentence of 14 years, was dropped because the pair claimed they never intended to steal.

They moved to Britain three years ago and rent a two-bedroom flat with daughters Rebecca, eight, and Denisa, two, half a mile from the £150,000 home they broke into.

Last night Dediu, a builder earning £8,000 a year, said: 'I met a man in the shop and he said this house was empty. I was not earning much money and we were paying £450 a month rent. I got into the house and started to tidy up. It did not look as if anybody was living there.

'I want to work and pay my bills. I don't want free money. I just wanted to save money and not pay rent.'

His wife said: 'The house was a mess. We were tidying it up. We did not think anybody was living there.'

The householder declined to comment or confirm his name when he returned from work yesterday. The curtains remained drawn.

One neighbour said: 'I suppose someone could believe the house was empty.'