'Terrifying' burglar confronted by new mum and baby after creeping into Leeds home

Jozef Demeter has been jailed after he broke into three homes, having travelled the country looking to commit crime.

The Slovakian admitted house burglaries in Durham, Sowerby Bridge and Leeds, and appeared at Leeds Crown Court via video link from HMP Leeds, where he was being held on remand.

The 28-year-old was first seen trying door handles of homes in the Durham city on August 31 last year, before entering one unlocked home. He was halfway up the stairs when the occupant caught him, and he told them he was “looking for work”.

Then 11 days later he targeted a home in Leeds. At around 3.15pm he let himself into the property where a woman was with her baby upstairs. The woman heard him coming up the stairs. She walked out onto the landing and saw Demeter heading towards the baby’s nursery.

She ordered him out and followed him down the stairs, filming him on her phone. He was later identified in a parade, and using the camera footage.

But Demeter also targeted one final home in Sowerby Bridge on September 17, when a grandmother returned home to find him at the top of her stairs. In broken English he told her “me no house” and walked from the property.

Mitigating, Danielle Gilmour said that Demeter, of Marten Road, Bradford, had begun taking drugs after the breakdown of his relationship and had “very little recollection” of the burglaries. He has no previous convictions.

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She said: “There’s an element of shock and disbelief in his reaction to these offences. He has no defence and is responsible for his actions while under the influence.”

She said that on his release he wants to “return to be a useful member of society”.

The judge, Recorder Ian Mullarkey, jailed him for 39 months and told him: “It was not a single episode of offending, it persisted over a number of days. It must have been terrifying for these householders.”