Jail for tattooed Rolex burglar who smashed through wall in Oxford

Taffyn Betnay, who when he was caged in 2014 for robbing a Post Office dubbed himself the ‘Robin Hood of Oxford’, had scammed his way into the block of flats in Armstrong Road, Littlemore, by claiming to be a courier.

But the 32-year-old was in the apartment block to steal – rather than deliver, Oxford Crown Court heard.

Having been buzzed in via the intercom by a neighbour, he told another resident in the block – suspicious about his presence there – that he was involved in building work on the top floor.

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He smashed his way through a plasterboard wall and into his victim’s flat. He made a beeline for the safe and got away with around £14,000-worth of valuables, including a Rolex watch worth £12,000 and other luxury items.

CCTV showed him in the apartment and prosecutor Lee Harris said the burglar was identified in part from a distinctive tattoo on his face.

Despite being uninsured and unlicenced, the thief drove from the scene then tried to use a stolen bank card in a nearby shop, where he was recognised by the shopkeeper.

In an impact statement read to the court by the prosecutor, the victim said he had worked hard to buy his flat and the stolen luxuries.

He described the break-in as a ‘complete violation’ of his personal space and an ‘attack’ on his ‘progress and hard work’.

The man had watched the CCTV footage of the burglar in his flat ‘over and over’, saying it made him feel sick to see someone casually damaging his home. He felt ‘particularly targeted’ by the seemingly planned theft.

Betnay, of Benouville Close, Oxford, pleaded guilty to dwelling house burglary and also admitted criminal damage, driving without insurance and driving without a valid licence.

The court heard he had 48 offences on his list of previous convictions, including a four year prison term imposed in 2014 after taking a hostage in a robbery at the Post Office in Woodstock Road.

Mitigating on Monday (March 13), Olive Lycourgou said her client had fallen back into addiction to heroin. He had lost his job and his relationship as a result then moved back to live with his mother.

“This offence was driven by merely one thing: his heroin addiction,” she said.

She had never known her client, who she had represented previously, to be so committed to changing his life. “He doesn’t want to let down his family any longer – or the general public.”

Judge Maria Lamb jailed Betnay for 29 months. She said there was a ‘horrible irony’ in the fact that he had completed courses on ‘sleep and relaxation’ since his remand into prison, given the impact of the burglary on his victim.