A teenager has been sentenced to 15 months in a young offenders’ institution for entering a family home while its occupants slept and stealing a BMW, PlayStation 5 and other items.
Alfie Curtis, 19, from Windermere Close in Exeter, was sentenced at Exeter Crown Court on Monday 14 July after pleading guilty to burglary.
The court heard how in January 2024, a woman woke up in her home in Exwick Road in Exeter to find that her BMW was no longer parked where she had left it.
Upon realising the car was missing, the victim went through her flat and found that her bag had been tampered with and her keys, bank cards, documents and a PlayStation 5 had been stolen.
It is believed the property was entered through unlocked patio doors.
The BMW was found abandoned in Stoke Canon more than a week later and examined.
Curtis was tracked down due to his DNA being found on a bag within the property which had been tampered with and he was subsequently arrested.
CCTV footage showed a person entering the premises at around 2.50am and leaving in the car at 3.32am.
Officer in the case, Detective Constable Margarita Amelcenko, said: “This crime has had a severe psychological effect on the victims, who were left terrified by what happened.
“Curtis not only stole the victim’s car and belongings - he also stole a sense of safety and security that one usually feels when in their own home. This sense of safety and security has been lost due to this burglary.
“As a force we have been working hard to tackle this type of offending. If you have been the victim of a burglary please call us on 101 or visit our website, or call 999 if the offence is ongoing.
“We will thoroughly investigate all such reports made to us. We would like to remind home owners to secure their property at night and keep keys away from the door to try and deter offenders such as Alfie Curtis.”
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