Housebreaking victims furious after serial offender convicted of only two charges

Serial offender Thomas Robb was suspected of a massive crime spree across Edinburgh that left scores of victims terrified to be in their own homes.

The 29-year-old’s arrest and the charges against him were trumpeted by officers at Police Scotland as evidence it was cracking down on persistent housebreakers.

However, after a lengthy court process costing taxpayers thousands of pounds, The Sunday Post can reveal Robb was convicted of just two of the 47 counts.

Critics last night claimed the disclosure was symptomatic of a system more focused on criminals than securing justice for victims.

Tory housing spokesman Alex Johnstone said: “It is scandalous.”

Police revealed last August that Robb had been charged with a total of 47 offences relating to housebreakings and attempted housebreakings in Edinburgh, one of Britain’s worst hotspots for the crime.

They added that, following extensive inquiries by specialist detectives, they had recovered £9,000 worth of stolen property from three addresses linked to Robb.

The Sunday Post, which has been campaigning for the scourge of housebreaking to be taken more seriously by the authorities, followed the case to see what would eventually happen to the housebreaker.

After a string of false starts the trial started on March 30.

It emerged at this point that, in court, Robb would face just 18 housebreaking-related charges and one of failing to turn up to an earlier hearing.

The remainder of the charges originally levelled against him had been dropped as the Crown ruled there was insufficient evidence to pursue criminal proceedings.

This is despite the police putting forward a dossier they believed would be enough to secure a conviction on all counts.

Robb, who the court heard had been breaking into homes for more than a decade, was found guilty of just two offences at Edinburgh Sheriff Court and jailed for almost two years and eight months.

Victim Linda Sokol (Andrew Cawley/DC Thomson)

Victim Linda Sokol, who returned to her ransacked home to find her cat with a cigarette burn on its head, said: “It’s a heart-sink. We all work hard for anything we have, why were there not more convictions?”

The 38-year-old was on the first day of a holiday when a pal called to say her Edinburgh flat had been trashed.

“The front door had been forced open and boxes with my treasured belongings had been scattered all over the place,” she said.

“Worst of all, my lovely tabby cat Cooper had a cigarette burn on his head.

“I was devastated anyone could do this.”

Police officers who came to the office worker’s home said they believed the burglar had been on a crime spree in the area, which is mainly tenement flats popular with students and professionals.

She continued: “When I found out he had been charged with 47 offences I was stunned.

“I can barely believe someone could have so little regard for other people’s property.

“Folk like this should not be loose in society causing such distress.”

The impact of the incident last July still haunts Miss Sokol.

She added: “Since the break-in I have become obsessed with checking and double-checking that the front door is locked.

“Any noise at night sends a shiver up my spine. It has taken me a while to feel happy in my own home again.

“The fear of being broken into again is always there.

“I wondered if he had watched my mother and me leave with suitcases to go on holiday that day.

“I am glad he got jailed. At least he’s out of circulation for the time being.”

During the hearing into Robb’s alleged housebreaking spree, the court heard from 24-year-old student Louise Sellars, who was living in a flat in the city’s Lothian Road last July with four other students when she encountered Robb.

She explained: “I was sitting on my bed when I heard my door open and I saw a man I’d never seen before.”

The man was wearing a hat with ear flaps and had a checked shirt and “had an angular face and cheek bones”, she said.

She added: “I felt very uncomfortable and found it difficult to sleep after what happened that night”.

Robb lodged two special defence notices during the trial, claiming the crimes had not been committed by him, but by four other people – two couples who had let him stay in their flats and who were Crown witnesses.

All four denied this claim and one couple, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted they sold electrical items for Robb at a pawn shop but said this was only because they believed they belonged to him.

Robb did not give evidence at the trial, which concluded on April 5.

He was found guilty by a majority of being in Ms Sellars’ flat in Lothian Road on July 19, 2015, with intent to steal.

The jury found him guilty by a majority of stealing a laptop from a house in Haymarket Terrace. Robb also pled guilty to failing to turn up to court in February.

The remaining 10 charges were Not Proven by a majority.

At one point Sheriff Liddle was handed a lengthy schedule of convictions for house-breaking. As he leafed through the dossier and remarked on the number of jail sentences served by Robb, members of the jury began lowering and shaking their heads.

Robb, who was appearing from custody, was sentenced to 200 days to follow an existing sentence, 365 days for failing to turn up to court and 404 days for the house-breaking and intended house-breaking charges – so a total of 969 days.

After the case concluded The Sunday Post checked to see what happens to the break-ins which do not have any convictions against them. Astonishingly, the Police said the original 47 charges against Robb were all recorded as “detected” on its system and they would only look again at the crimes if new evidence came to light.

A Crown Office spokesman said: “The Crown takes housebreaking extremely seriously, and our policy to presume prosecution on petition has led to a 21% increase in custodial sentences.

“Police Scotland reported 29 charges related to housebreaking for which there was insufficient evidence to take any criminal proceedings.

“The Crown took the remaining 18 charges to trial, some of which were later discontinued after witness testimony failed to provide sufficient evidence.

“Ultimately, the court was satisfied that there was enough evidence to allow the jury to consider 13 charges.

“We note their verdict and the significant period of imprisonment imposed.”

No charges brought in 3 out of 4 burglaries