First for court as three sentenced remotely for burglary of elderly couple’s home

Sentencing the trio, who are all originally from Slovakia, Judge Geoffrey Miller QC said: “These are unusual times requiring a novel approach to proceedings, designed to expedite cases requiring an urgent hearing.

“It is important to stress, however, that the first duty of the court is to ensure that the spirit of the law is observed, albeit not exactly to the letter.

“Justice must both be done and seen to be done.”

The Judge made the comments as he sentenced Mikulas Danco (45) and his 18-year old son Robert Grulyo, alongside 27-year old co-accused Edward Nemet. All three men have addresses at Fingal Street in Belfast.

All three men admitted burgling the Ballymoney home of an elderly couple on July 22 last year, and of stealing jewellery, watches and gift vouchers.

The defendants attended the remote hearing via videolink from Maghaberry and Hydebank, whilst their legal representatives appeared via video conferencing.

Summing up the Crown case against the men, Judge Miller said that all three “deliberately targeted an elderly couple and used subterfuge to distract them”.

The judge said that father and son Danco and Grulyo left Nemet in the car. Grulyo - who Belfast Crown Court heard had a “strong command of English” - spoke to the couple whilst his father Danco committed the burglary.

The incident occurred during the day, the police were alerted and all three were quickly apprehended.

Judge Miller said that impact on the elderly couple has been “significant.” He also noted that whilst this was a deliberate act against an elderly couple, it was unsophisticated and there was no violence used.

Judge Miller said that taking into account both the coronavirus crisis and the time the trio have spent on remand, he handed all three an eight-month sentence, which was suspended for two years.

The three were all warned they could face further jail time if they carried out any offences in the next two years.