Suspended sentence for Oxford Brookes guard who burgled rooms

Sentencing Hamid Laamirni to 12 months’ imprisonment suspended for two years, Judge Ian Pringle QC told the burglar that it was hard to imagine a greater breach of trust than a security guard breaking into rooms at a student halls of residence.

The 40-year-old, who had been a guard at the university for three-and-a-half years, admitted burgling one room at the Clive Booth student halls of residence in Headington – and asked for six other burglaries to be taken into consideration by the judge.

Laamirni told police he thought the students had gone home and left their belongings behind. He had planned to donate the items or sell them and give the proceeds to charity, although Judge Pringle noted that there was no evidence that he had.

Prosecutor Gabrielle McAvock told Oxford Crown Court that a first year student had returned to his room on June 9, after staying with his parents, to find the room had been ‘ransacked’.

Among his belongings that were missing was an Xbox, two video games still in their plastic wrapping, a Bose speaker he’d been given by his grandmother, Nike trainers worth £90, clothes, LED lights and a £5 deodorant spray. The total value of the missing items was £835.

Hamid Laamirni outside Oxford Crown Court

“CCTV footage at Oxford Brookes University was trawled through and the defendant was identified from CCTV footage as behaving suspiciously. He was carrying bags of items from student rooms late in the evening,” Ms McAvock said.

When he was interviewed by detectives, Laamirni made full admissions and said he believed the items had been left behind by the students. He accepted he took no steps to confirm whether or not the students intended to return.

The police went to his house and the stolen items were recovered. The prosecutor said: “It was like an Aladdin’s Cave of property found.”

Mitigating, Gordana Austin said her client had gone into the victim’s room as his window had been left open. He did not realise the student was coming back and thought the items were unwanted. “He was going to either donate them or sell them and give the money to charity.”

He helped care for his wife, who had accompanied him to court. Laamirni had come to the UK from Morocco eight years ago and had been a model staff member at Brookes for three-and-a-half years. He no longer worked for the university.

Laamirni, of Hurst Street, Oxford, pleaded guilty at the magistrates’ court to burglary and asked for six other offences to be taken into consideration. He had no previous convictions.

The judge told Laamirni’s barrister her client had grotesquely abused the position of trust he was in.

“This man was a security guard at Oxford Brookes University. As a security guard his principal role was to ensure the security of the building and those who occupy the building and their possessions and instead he helped himself to the possession of not just one [student],” he said.

The defendant must complete 180 hours of unpaid work and 16 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

Hamid Laamirni outside Oxford Crown Court

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