Inverness homes raided by Mexican and Colombian tourists who took haul to Old Mill Caravan site in Brodie
Four tourists claimed they had met by accident in Inverness before hatching a plot to break into two luxury city properties which had large sums of cash and expensive designer goods and jewellery inside.
A Colombian woman also happened to have a walkie talkie and ear piece which she was seen wearing outside of one of the houses in Admiral's View, before a rear window was smashed and the break-in occurred on July 6 last year.
The following day, another expensive home in Moriston Road belonging to an Asian family was illegally entered and in total over £14,500 in cash in various currencies and luxury goods worth approximately £8700 were stolen in the two raids.
The two Mexicans and two Colombians appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court and admitted the two thefts by housebreaking.
Colombians Marlon Avila (31), Andrea Gomez (36) and Mexican Eder Martinez (41) were each jailed for 33 months. Mexican Andres Benitez (51) was also in the rented car, paid for and driven by Martinez to transport their haul to a caravan at the Old Mill Caravan site in Brodie, was jailed for 30 months.
Sheriff Ian Cruickshank backdated the sentence to their July 9 date of remand but told them: "No real explanation has been provided by any of you as to why you became involved in these crimes. I don't believe for a minute that it was just happenstance for you to come together and then suddenly hatch this plan.
"This is effectively a housebreaking enterprise which is a vile offence of dishonesty because you don't just take away personal items, you take away part of a homeowner's dignity and rob them of feeling safe in their own property."
Fiscal depute Emily Hood told the court that the first break-in was at the home of Yin Mei Amy Yeung and Chi Ming Lai, who reside in Admiral’s View.
Ms Hood said the house was left locked but when they returned later that day, their security had been breached.
"During the afternoon, several witnesses reported a female being in the vicinity of the property,” she said. “She was described as walking near to the locus with a cable running up to her head as if she was speaking to someone on a device.
"Ms Yeung immediately noticed the living room was in a state of disarray. On entering the kitchen she saw one of the lower glass panels of the back patio doors to be smashed. She contacted Ming Lai to inform him of what she discovered, whilst she continued to check the property. She observed their beds, various drawers to have been rummaged in and items strewn across the floors.
“She discovered £3000 in cash was missing from the bottom drawer of a bedside unit. Also missing was £5000 in cash and £2000 in Hong Kong dollars, a British passport, a Hong Kong Passport, a Hong Kong ID card and a purse. Downstairs, she discovered her Louis Vuitton bag containing her purse containing £10-£30, three bank cards and a driving licence were all missing.
"She estimated the cost to fix her door would be £400."
Ms Hood then described what happened to Thao Pham, of Moriston Road, after he locked and left his home on the morning of July 7.
"At about 3.30pm, Mr Pham returned home to find the front door unlocked,” she said. “He entered the kitchen and observed the kitchen window to be smashed and the locking mechanism to be damaged suggesting it had been forced open. The master bedroom had been forced open and a screwdriver was on the floor next to the door. The bedroom was in a state of disarray and all the cupboards and drawers had been ransacked with items scattered all over the room.
"Mr Pham checked the other rooms upstairs which were all in a similar state to the master bedroom. He noted his black Louis Vuitton bag worth £2500 was missing along with a Rado watch worth around £1000, Dolce and Gabbana trainers, valued between £200 and £300, Gucci trainers worth £700, a Pandora bracelet worth £300, a small Louis Vuitton bag worth over £2000, a belt and buckle worth between £200 and £350, and a Louis Vuitton belt worth between £200 and £300.
"A black holdall belonging to his mother-in-law was missing, along with wedding rings worth £300, gold bracelets worth £500, a swan necklace worth £300, and various jewellery totalling an estimated worth of £500. His friend’s Nike trainers had also been stolen from the address. Along with this, he noted £4500 in cash was missing."
Police discovered CCTV had captured a vehicle at both locations at the relevant times, and at Admiral's View there were two males present with a rucksack, one which was identified as Benitez. CCTV from Moriston Road captured Gomez appearing to survey the area.
Police were quickly able to track down the car on July 7 and recovered most of the cash and goods.
DNA analysis of the screwdriver found at Moriston Road matched Martinez.
DNA analysis of a swab from the floor of Admiral’s View where blood was found matched Benitez.
A search of the caravan also recovered more items and cash.
Defence solicitors for the quartet, Willie Young, Duncan Henderson, Patrick O'Dea and Marc Dickson could not offer any explanation why their clients had come together after speaking to them through an interpreter.
They said they all bitterly regretted having become involved.
