Burglar broke into house through dog flap

Winston Papalaka took "sentimental and irreplaceable items" including watches, earrings and a Tiffany gold ring

A man broke into a house using a dog flap before stealing valuables worth £5,000, including cash, jewellery, watches and a laptop, a court heard.

Winston Papalaka, 28, from Harold Road, London, burgled the house in Impington, Cambridgeshire, on 24 June 2021, while his victim was out shopping.

He denied burglary but was found guilty at Peterborough Crown Court and was sentenced to four years and six months in jail.

His accomplice Ben Hatto, 43, of Hamilton Road, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, pleaded guilty to burglary and will be sentenced on 13 September.

'Eagle-eye residents'

Fingerprint evidence linked Hatto to the crime, said Cambridgeshire Police, while the pair were spotted by "eagle-eyed residents".

Their victim noticed the damage to the dog flap, which was in the back door, on her return home.

The pair left through the the front door, but Papalaka was spotted by someone who recognised him.

He was seen throwing items out of a laptop bag around his neck and when officers checked the area, they found a post office seal bag. Forensic tests revealed it had Hatto's fingerprints inside.

The pair also discarded some of the jewellery.

Det Con Lisa Bacon said: “I would like to thank the eagle-eyed residents and witnesses – the woman who noticed the men outside her home, the neighbour gardening, the man working on the roof of a house nearby and the neighbour opposite who noticed jewellery on the ground near her car."

She added that burglaries can have "a huge impact on victims, not only because of sentimental and irreplaceable items stolen, but also the devastation of no longer feeling safe".