A pedicab driver who stole £31,000 worth of wine from high-end restaurants has avoided jail after he returned some of the missing bottles.
Iuliu Kubola, 61, admitted six burglaries at the three premises in Mayfair, Belgravia and the City of London, and on Monday was sentenced to 20 months in custody suspended for two years.
At a previous hearing, defence barrister Daisy Kell-Jones said her 61-year-old client knew where the stolen wine was, and said “he is very keen for it to be returned”.
Sentencing, Judge Mark Lucraft KC told the court: “To cut a lengthy story short, some wine has been recovered and there are a total of 32 unopened bottles of wine, they are valued at approximately £6,687.”
The judge said the defendant’s efforts to assist police had demonstrated his remorse and the…
A pedicab driver who stole £31,000 worth of wine from high-end restaurants has avoided jail after he returned some of the missing bottles.
Iuliu Kubola, 61, admitted six burglaries at the three premises in Mayfair, Belgravia and the City of London, and on Monday was sentenced to 20 months in custody suspended for two years.
At a previous hearing, defence barrister Daisy Kell-Jones said her 61-year-old client knew where the stolen wine was, and said “he is very keen for it to be returned”.
Sentencing, Judge Mark Lucraft KC told the court: “To cut a lengthy story short, some wine has been recovered and there are a total of 32 unopened bottles of wine, they are valued at approximately £6,687.”
The judge said the defendant’s efforts to assist police had demonstrated his remorse and the recovery process would continue.
However, he noted “significant loss and damage” had been caused at Piazza Italiana where 73 bottles were snatched during one raid.
‘The wine is to drink, no?’
Previously, the court heard that some of the wine was found on Kubola when he was arrested riding a pedicab in the City of London in June.
Asked what he intended to do with everything he had stolen, he told police: “The 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.
The court heard that 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.
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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 seen on CCTV taking the bottles of wine, putting them into a wheelie bin and loading the bin into the back of his pedicab.
Kubola was sentenced to 20 months in custody suspended for two years for the burglaries [City of London Police]
Kubola was arrested on 22 June on Cornhill, just metres from Piazza Italiana, while riding the tuk-tuk.
He was found with a bottle of Villa Bucci wine, a bottle of Laurent-Perrier champagne, a bottle of Jack Daniels, a half-empty bottle of Shaw and Smith chardonnay, and a bottle of vodka.
He also had an angle grinder, spanner, screwdriver and crowbars in his pedicab when he was arrested.
In his police interview, the defendant did not dispute any of the allegations.
He questioned the value of the wine taken, saying: “It was not that much. I have had a restaurant in Italy for 20 years. It did not add up to that much.”
In mitigation, Ms Kell-Jones said the defendant had a drink problem.
She 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.
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