Washington, March 23: A MAN came back to his home after he forgot his wallet to find a Romanian family had moved in, The Sun reports.
The stunned householder was out only a short time, but the intruders were already moving his belongings out of his cupboards in Northampton, central England.
He called the police and the Romanian couple, who were with their young child, were arrested. They claimed they were told that the two bedroom house was empty and they could squat there.
Mihai Dediu, 30, and his wife Laura, 24, were given 12-month non-custodial community orders after they admitted causing criminal damage to the locks and windows.
But Mr. Dediu, a building worker and father of two, insisted later: “The house was a mess. We were tidying it up. It did not look as if anybody was living there.
“I met a man in a shop and he said this house was empty. I just wanted to save on rent. I don’t earn much.”
The couple, whose burglary charge was dropped, pay £450 a month ($740) to live nearby.
Judge Richard Bray called the case “bizarre.”
He said at Northampton Crown Court, “The owner comes back and there’s an unknown car in his drive.”
A neighbor of the unnamed middle-aged man said, “He leaves the curtains drawn so I suppose someone could believe the house was empty.”
—Agencies