A homeowner was attacked in his own home in the dead of night by a career criminal with 179 previous convictions. Adam Mosettig and Lauren Youens broke into the stranger's home by smashing a window and helped themselves to his belongings. When the shocked victim caught them in his living room taking his TV off the wall, Mosettig repeatedly punched him, leaving him bleeding and in pain. While he was being attacked, Youens stole his bank card, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
Attack in the early hours
The court heard the victim was in bed at his home in Westerhope, Newcastle, around 1am on October 19 last year when he heard the sound of his window being smashed. He went into the living room and saw Mosettig and Youens, who he did not know.
Mosettig, 31, took the victim's television from the wall and assaulted him, punching him to the face and head numerous times. He was left bleeding and feeling sore as a result of the attack. During the assault, Youens, 36, went through the man's belongings and stole his bank card.
Blood trail leads to suspects
Neil Jones, prosecuting, said: "The police attended the flat of the victim and they followed a trail of blood, which led to a block of flats not far away. They found more blood on items in a back garden, along with the TV set, which also had a blood stain on it." The court heard the victim had been bleeding from his nose and Mosettig was bleeding from a finger. While no weapon was used in the offence, Mosettig was found to be in possession of a rusty chisel.
In a victim impact statement, the man said: "My home was a place where I felt safe and secure. That feeling has been replaced since someone entered my home, assaulted me and took my belongings. It left me feeling unsafe in my own home."
Sentencing and judge's criticism
Mosettig, of Park Court, Gateshead, who has 179 previous convictions, had been released on licence from a two-year sentence for burglary at the time of the latest offence. Youens, of Briarside, Westerhope, Newcastle, who has 23 previous convictions, was subject to a community order for theft at the time. Prosecutors accepted guilty pleas by Mosettig to common assault and theft of the TV and by Youens to theft of the bank card. Mosettig was sentenced to 12 months in prison while Youens got another community order.
Recorder Mark McKone KC told Mosettig: "You are a career criminal and the court has no way of knowing when, if ever, you will give up your criminal lifestyle. You brazenly broke into someone's house at night on licence in order to assault them and steal their property." The judge said Youens was given a community order last July and said: "You had been told, if you breached the community order it could be revoked and you could be sent to custody. Within three months you are in someone else's house in the middle of the night." He said she has only attended 30 of 70 probation appointments on the community order imposed last year and risks being breached if she misses more. The judge added: "This was theft in very serious circumstances, in the middle of the night in someone's home when he'd just had a beating."
After the case, Recorder McKone questioned why the prosecution had accepted lesser pleas than the originally-charged robbery. He was told it was a decision taken by a reviewing lawyer and replied: "On the face of it, it's a very serious robbery." Penny Hall, for Mosettig, said he was recalled to prison and has been doing well there but wants to get out and see his baby. No representations were made in mitigation for Youens when the judge made it clear he was not imposing a custodial sentence.
