A Wales resident was left terrified of staying in her own house after a bizarre home invasion.
Damian Wojnilowicz, 36, was arrested for allegedly breaking into the woman’s home in Monmouthshire in July this year. He was sentenced last week to 22 months behind bars.
The burglar was accused of hanging out the victim's laundry, opening up her wine bottle, and cooking a meal on her stove using ingredients from her cupboard.
Highlights
- A Wales resident was left terrified of staying in her own house after a bizarre home invasion.
- The accused burglar had hung out her laundry, cooked a meal on her stove, and stocked her fridge with items from grocery bags.
- Damian Wojnilowicz, 36, was arrested and pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary for breaking into two homes in July this year.
- The second victim said he felt “sick, horrified, and useless” after what happened.
A Wales resident returned home to find that someone had hung her laundry out and cooked a meal on her stove using her food
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Following the break-in, she returned home to find that items in her garden had been moved around.
After making her way inside the house, she discovered that someone had done menial chores like hanging out her laundry and replacing the toothbrush heads on her toothbrushes.
Items from her grocery bag had been placed in the fridge, and her recycling bin had also been emptied. Brand new utensils had been laid outside from their shopping bag while the old ones had been binned. The floor had also seemed to have been cleaned, with a mop and bucket left outside.
Damian Wojnilowicz, 36, pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary for breaking into two homes in July
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Meanwhile, in the living room, she found a bottle of red wine next to a bottle opener and a glass. There was also a bowl of sweets left on the table.
When the victim spoke to her neighbor, she was told that someone was spotted hanging out her laundry on the line.
"Two weeks after the crime until he was caught, I was living in a state of heightened anxiety I had never experienced before,” the woman said in her victim personal statement, as quoted by BBC.
"I was too scared to stay in my own home and stayed with a friend," the traumatized woman said following the incident
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"I wondered if it was somebody who knew me, if it was going to turn into a stalking incident, if he knew I lived alone and if I had been targeted,” she continued. “I was too scared to stay in my own home and stayed with a friend."
Damian was accused of breaking into a second victim’s home the same month. On July 29, the homeowner had received a CCTV notification on his phone, alerting him of an intruder walking on his driveway.
This time, the jailed burglar had allegedly used the man’s hot tub as well as the shower to wash his clothes. He was caught red-handed when the homeowner’s son-in-law arrived at the residence and found the drunk burglar with a glass in hand.
The intruder's lawyer said he was homeless and going through several struggles when the break-ins took place
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The second victim said he felt "sick, horrified, and useless” after what happened.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary and was sentenced for 22 months at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday, October 3.
"This was a significant intrusion in their homes,” Christian Jowett said while sentencing him.
Tabitha Walker, the lawyer representing the arrested intruder, said Damian was homeless and going through a tough time when the burglaries took place.