Two women who flew to Britain as “burglary tourists” to rob lavish properties left empty during the summer holidays have been jailed.
Rosa Dotes-Perez, 33, and Francisca Santana, 19 broke into a £3 million Cheshire home on June 24, just after 10.30pm, while the couple who lived there were abroad.
They stole around £15,000 worth of luxury goods including “a number of designer handbags, jewellery and £400 in cash stored away in a bag”, according to the police, as well as the victims’ birth and marriage certificates, which could not be recovered.
Claiming to have smoked cannabis and drunk alcohol prior to the burglary, the pair, driven by a man identified as Jean Paul Pizarro-Carrasco, who had just arrived in the UK, were caught after police spotted they were using a fake number plate.
When the authorities proceeded to search the car, they found the certificates belonging to the victims along with the stolen goods.
The two women damaged the property’s CCTV cameras as they entered, having been driven by Carrasco, who just hours earlier had landed at Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
The man had picked up a rental car – a black MG – and fitted it with a false plate before collecting the two women.
The court heard that the two robbers were thought to have been scouring likely targets after arriving in the UK a few weeks earlier.
When asked about the reason for their visit in court, Santana said she had come on a holiday visa two months earlier to watch the King’s Coronation with a friend.
Joshua Sanderson-Kirk, prosecuting, reported that both women fled the vehicle after it was approached by the local police but were “apprehended nearby”.
He said that after the authorities discovered the stolen goods in the car, as well as the identifying birth and marriage certificates, they visited the property linked to the victims.
Upon arrival, they found that the husband and wife were away at the time and that the property’s “CCTV system had seen damage costing between £1,000-£2,000”.
“Total losses were estimated to range between £10,000 and £15,000. After arrest, Santana was found to have £600 on her, while Carrasco had £60 on him, Dotes-Peres had £75,” Mr Sanderson-Kirk added.
Dotes-Perez was jailed for 20 months whilst Santana was locked up in a young offender’s institution for 16 months after both admitted burglary.
Pizarro-Carrasco, aged 32 and also of Chile, was jailed for 20 months after he pleaded guilty to burglary.
All three will be repatriated to their home country following their release from jail.
In a statement read at Chester Crown Court, the victim, an officer manager, said she and her husband, who runs the family financial services company in Manchester, were left to feel “unsafe in their own home”.
“I no longer like to be left alone inside the house when my husband is out,” the victim said.
“Our holiday was ruined, and we went from being relaxed to being extremely stressed and full of worry. I am now very nervous and apprehensive.
“I feel vulnerable, which is something I should not feel in my own home. They also took a number of sentimental items of mine, including birth and marriage certificates.”
She added: “Unlike the other items, these have not been recovered, and this is still upsetting to me. No person has the right to do this.”
