A 39-year-old man from Assen faces a prison sentence of 3.5 years for seven home burglaries in care centers and senior complexes. The prosecutor called the burglaries “extremely cowardly.”
According to the prosecutor, the drug-addicted man was active in Assen from August to November and mainly targeted homes with key boxes. The burglar broke open the cupboards, searched the house and stole money, cards and electronics, among other things. At one house the man returned for the second time.
A camera was placed at that house in the meantime. According to the public prosecutor, the man was recognizable in the image. There were also video recordings of pins with the stolen cards and of cameras that hung at other homes, where burglaries took place. The burglar left fingerprints and DNA traces in various homes.
The Public Prosecution Service also accuses the burglar of a car theft. He stole the key during a burglary. The man remembers little because of the drugs he used, he told the judge. He largely denied. He was arrested in early November with stolen tools in his hand. He had borrowed it from a handyman friend, he said.
The man has a lengthy criminal record. Treatment programmes, including those for frequent offenders, have so far been unsuccessful. “He draws his own plan and wants to keep control of his life,” said the public prosecutor. According to him, the suspect has no respect for the goods and safety of vulnerable people in particular.
Verdict in two weeks.