A woman went to the police station to report the burglary of her Stoke home, only to capture the same thief on camera robbing her home again.
Adam Murray Anderson, 41, appeared in the Nelson District Court on Monday charged with the burglaries.
The court was told how in October last year the 61-year-old woman, who lives alone, had told her neighbour where her spare key was as she was going on holiday.
Sometime between February and July this year, she noticed, on at least four occasions, that money totalling $2300 had gone missing from her home.
There was no sign of forced entry, so she began to suspect Anderson, who was her neighbour’s partner.
On July 23, the woman installed CCTV cameras in her home with a camera specifically placed in the bedroom.
Just two days later, at 4pm on July 25, the cameras captured Anderson coming into her home while she was not there and searching through clothing drawers for something to steal. On this occasion he left empty handed.
Upon arriving home, the woman reviewed the footage and the following day went to the police station to report the break-in.
While she was there, CCTV again captured Anderson coming into her home.
While in the bedroom, he opened an underwear drawer where he found an envelope containing $50. He took two $10 notes and left.
When the victim returned home, she reported the break-in to police.
Duty lawyer Wayne Jones says Anderson was “absolutely disgusted” with his actions.
Judge Richard Russell convicted Anderson on two charges of burglary and remanded him on bail until sentencing in September.
“This is an absolute breach of trust … that gives me real cause for concern about you, this is a vulnerable victim who has trusted you and you have badly breached that trust,” said Judge Russell.
