A GANG smashed their way through the back wall of a Coventry bookies before making off with a safe containing nearly £7,000 in cash.
One of the team was arrested as he was about to get on a ferry at Dover – planning to use his cut to bring his wife and sick child back to the UK from Romania.
And Florin Marin of Frankland Road, Coventry, was jailed for 20 months by a judge at Warwick Crown Court after he had pleaded guilty to the burglary.
Prosecutor Richard Franck said on the night of September 8, 26-year-old Marin was among a gang of four who used hammers to smash a hole in the rear wall of Betfred bookmakers in Old Church Road.
In the process of breaking in, they ripped a sink from the wall, resulting in further damage caused by escaping water.
Once inside they made off with the safe which contained a total of £6,780 in cash.
But Marin was identified as one of the raiders after his blood was found and he was finally picked up as he tried to get a ferry at Dover last month.
He was interviewed after being taken back to Coventry police station where he admitted being involved.
Marin explained he had been working at a carwash in Foleshill Road for about three months, and had been recruited to take part in the raid by three fellow-Romanians.
He said they offered to pay him £300, and on the night picked him up before driving to the bookies where he helped to break in, cutting himself as he did so.
He said he waited outside as the other three went in, and he was then handed a box which he carried back to the car, after which he was dropped off in Foleshill Road and given £300.
Marin added when he was arrested he was on his way to Romania, and was going to use the money to bring his pregnant wife and their young daughter back to Coventry.
Mr Franck added Marin had no convictions in this country, but had been jailed for five years in Romania in 2011 for four robberies.
Aadhithya Anbahan, defending, said Marin’s unborn son suffers from a congenital heart defect, and he came to this country to find work to provide a life here for his family.
“He knows he has jeopardised that. He knows the reality of the very foolish shortcut he tried to take is that he will be away from his family at the time his wife most needs his support.
“His wife and daughter are now in the UK and his son, when born, will require extensive surgery. He knows that because of his actions he may not be there to support his wife and son.”
Judge Andrew Lockhart QC said he accepted an immediate sentence would cause hardship to Marin’s wife and unborn son, but added: “These are matters you should have thought about before you engaged in serious criminality.”
