Man sentenced after burglary in Radlett

A man has been sentenced to eight months imprisonment following a burglary in Radlett which occurred in March. Police were called to Radlett railway station, shortly after 7pm on March 5, thanks to a quick thinking neighbour who called the police after witnessing his neighbour’s house being burgled. After seeing the man leave the house, the neighbour followed the unsuspecting man at a safe distance to the train station, informing police of his movements as he went, including what platform and train the man was getting on. This allowed for local officers to locate and arrest the man, where he was found to be in possession of items from the victim’s house including jewellery and an Apple Mac computer. Ionel Bahnean, aged 25, from Clovelly Avenue, London, was sentenced on May 1 at St Albans Crown Court to eight month imprisonment and ordered to pay £100 victim surcharge, having pleaded guilty to burglary at a hearing on March 7. Hertsmere’s Safer Neighbourhood Inspector, Richard Johnson said: “Thanks to the accurate details given to us by the neighbour, we were able to get officers to the train station, arrest the man and recover all the property stolen. “Although this was great work from the neighbour, I would like to stress to members of the public that following offenders is not always safe; please ring 999 immediately if you witness a crime giving us as much detail as possible. Derek Sweeney, Neighbourhood Watch Liaison Officer said: “The best way to beat crime is for us to all work together. The police need help from members of the public, businesses and other agencies to catch criminals and prevent crime, which is why we advocate people join Neighbourhood Watch. “February saw us top 80,000 members of Neighbourhood Watch and since this burglary the neighbours have now also signed up to the scheme. We’re pleased to have them involved in the scheme as it’s with the help of people like this, that we catch criminals.”