Burglar given time by judge to find £24K wine haul
A pedicab driver who took nearly £24,000 worth of wine from a restaurant has been told by a judge to help the police recover the items he stole.
On 6 June, Iuliu Kubola used a wheelie bin to cart 73 bottles of wine from the cellar of the Piazza Italiana restaurant on Threadneedle Street in the City of London to his pedicab outside.
At the Old Bailey, defence barrister Daisy Kell-Jones claimed her 61-year-old client knew where the stolen wine was, and said "he is very keen for it to be returned".
Judge Mark Lucraft KC adjourned Kubola's sentencing until 3 November, to give him time to "make good on that promise".
'Wine is to drink, no?'
At a previous hearing, Kubola pleaded guilty to burglary over the 6 June incident, and also admitted three further burglaries.
On 10 May, he took several bottles of wine worth about £6,000, as well as £200 from the till, from Comptoir Cafe and Wine in Mayfair.
He also targeted the Oliveto restaurant in Belgravia, on 13 May and 8 June, where he took cash from the till and several bottles of wine.
Kubola, from Islington, further targeted Piazza Italiana on 15 June, stealing £680 worth of wine and £55 in cash, and on 19 June, when he left without taking anything after an alarm sounded.
Kubola was arrested on 22 June on Cornhill, just metres from Piazza Italiana.
He had an angle grinder, spanner, screwdriver, crowbars and bottles of alcohol in his pedicab when he was arrested, prosecution barrister Matthew Jolliffe told the court.
Asked in a police interview what he intended to do with the stolen wine, he responded: "Wine is to drink, no?"
Ms Kell-Jones told the court that Kubola had previously worked for two of the restaurants he stole from, and that he claimed he had not been paid.
She said that "rather than asking for his salary, Mr Kubola made the reckless and stupid decision to go in and effectively take the salary for himself".
Mr Jolliffe applied for a compensation order for £31,393.20 on behalf of the restaurant, to cover the stolen goods and damage caused by the burglar.
Judge Lucraft said he hoped that a "significant chunk of that may be recouped" if Kubola was successful in helping the police to recover the stolen wine.
The defendant is due to appear in court again on 3 November for sentencing.
Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk
(Feed generated with FetchRSS)