TWO burglars were caught out by their tools thanks to investigative work involving forensics and interpreters.

Gheorghe Serban, 33, of New Haw Road, Addlestone, was sentenced to 34 months in prison and ordered to pay a victim surcharge.

His brother-in-law Iulian Toma, 43, of Glebe Close, Crawley, was sentenced to 21 months in prison suspended by two years, with an electronically monitored curfew requirement between 8pm and 5am.

At around 9.49pm on 15 January 2021, officers were called to Hampshire Court in Addlestone following reports of two suspicious men who were disturbed trying to gain access to an address.

Officers were quickly on the scene and the suspects detained and searched. Two screwdrivers, of which they denied all knowledge, were discovered near their feet.

They claimed they were walking to the shops to buy cigarettes when Serban decided to call on an old girlfriend who allegedly lived in the area. However, house to house enquiries and CCTV footage disproved their story and showed them attempting to break into two houses on the street.

Forensics were conducted on the screwdrivers, which showed they had been directly handled by Serban and may have been handled by Toma.

Body-worn footage from the attending officers was translated from Romanian to English and showed that Serban had said to Toma, “Did you throw that thing away?”, which was believed to be a reference to the screwdrivers.

Both men were charged with two attempted burglaries each and with going equipped for burglary. They pleaded guilty but then failed to attend Guildford Crown Court, and Serban even left the country.

However, thanks to officers’ persistence they were tracked down and sentenced last month.

Investigating officer PC Daniel Bell, from the northern burglary team, said: “Burglary is a despicable crime, and nobody should be made to feel unsafe in their own home. I know this has had an impact on the victims, who were in with their children at the time of the offence.

“I hope this sentence acts as a deterrent for other would-be burglars.”