Dog flap burglars caught by DNA and witnesses
Two burglars who broke into a house in South Cambridgeshire, stealing £5,000 worth of items, were identified through DNA evidence and eyewitness accounts
Last updated 31st Jul 2024
Two burglars have been convicted after stealing £5,000 worth of items from a house in South Cambridgeshire after crawling through a dog flap.
Winston Papalaka, 28, and Ben Hatto, 43, broke into the house on Milton Road, Impington, between 10:30 am and 11:50 am on 24 June 2021. They ransacked rooms looking for valuable goods and stole items including a laptop, three watches, diamond and sapphire earrings, a Tiffany gold ring, euros, and cash.
On returning home, the victim noticed the dog flap on the back door had been slightly damaged. Papalaka and Hatto left via the front door, but Papalaka had been spotted by someone who recognised him. They had also been seen acting suspiciously by residents in the village at about 11:20 am.
One resident had noticed Hatto looking round the front of her home and ringing the video doorbell but when questioned, he claimed to be looking for directions to the guided busway. The woman found this odd, as the busway was only up the road. On checking her CCTV, both Papalaka and Hatto were seen walking up the driveway of the house. The men then walked from the woman’s house to the Milton Road property about 15 minutes away.
A second neighbour living opposite went to her car and noticed jewellery lying on the ground which she returned to the victim. House-to-house enquiries identified another witness, a man working on the roof of a nearby house, who identified Papalaka by name and said he’d seen him throwing items out from a laptop bag around his neck as he walked along the street.
An officer went to where the items were said to have been thrown and found a paracetamol box, a receipt, and a post office seal bag. The bag was sent for forensic tests and Hatto’s fingerprints were found inside. Both men were arrested and charged with burglary.
Papalaka, of Harold Road, London, denied the offence but was found guilty after standing trial at Peterborough Crown Court in June. He was jailed for four years and six months at the same court on Monday, 29 July. Hatto, of North Denes Road, Great Yarmouth, admitted the offence at a previous hearing and is due to be sentenced on Friday, 13 September.
Detective Constable Lisa Bacon, who investigated, said, “Papalaka showed a complete disregard for the victim by throwing some of the stolen haul onto the street. I would like to thank the eagle-eyed residents and witnesses – the woman who noticed the men outside her home, the neighbour gardening, the man working on the roof of a house nearby and the neighbour opposite who noticed jewellery on the ground near her car. Although they may seem like small snippets of information, this case highlights how these snippets come together to help us solve crimes.”