Ipswich: Disabled man woke to find burglar sitting in his wheelchair

A disabled man woke up in his sheltered housing accommodation to find a burglar sitting in his wheelchair, a court has heard.

The victim of the burglary, who is in his sixties, had fallen asleep while waiting for his daughter to take him out for lunch and when he woke up he was shocked to see a stranger sitting next to his bed in his wheelchair, Ipswich Crown Court was told.

The man asked the intruder what he was doing in his room, but didn’t get a response, said Michael Crimp, prosecuting. “He described the man as seeming to be ‘out of it’,” said Mr Crimp.

The intruder left after the man threatened to press an emergency button on a pendant round his neck.

Before the court was Mantas Gedminas, 25, of Woodbridge Road, Ipswich who admitted burglary at Hanover Court, Lacey Street, Ipswich, on December 29.

He was given a 12-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months and ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work in the community. He was also ordered to pay £300 costs and a £100 victim surcharge.

When Gedminas was arrested by police he was found to be in possession of a watch he had stolen during the burglary. He told officers he had been drinking and had been looking for somewhere to go to the toilet.

Gavin Burrell for Gedminas described the burglary as “slightly curious” and said his client had issues with alcohol.