A POLISH burglar has been castigated by a Salisbury court for bringing shame on the people of Poland.

Piotr Gralak, 40, from Yeovil, Somoerset, burgled a house in Homington Road, Coombe Bissett, with two accomplices.

Two of them entered through a ground floor window and let the third man in through the door. They took items to the value of £3,500 including jewellery, two laptops and perfume.

Sentencing him at Salisbury Crown Court, Judge John Dixon said: “Polish people are always welcome in the United Kingdom, but not when they commit crimes.

“In this country burglary is regarded as very serious. I am sure you can imagine how upsetting it is if a stranger breaks into your house and steals things that are precious to you.

“You and your friends upset this lady terribly. It was a dreadful offence and you should feel ashamed of yourself.”

The court heard Gralak came to this country to start a new life two years ago and had generally been working hard over the last two years.

He recently became unemployed, was drinking heavily and got into debt, leading to him committing this crime.

Judge Dixon took into account that the stolen property had been recovered and that Gralak had not been in trouble in this country before.

His two co-defendants had already been dealt with by magistrates and were released after serving seven weeks of 14-week sentences.

The judge said he would sentence Gralak in the same way as they had all been equally responsible, but as he had already been in custody for 54 days he was released immediately.

“I hope that you will, if you stay in the United Kingdom, not commit offences again – you bring shame on yourself and on the good people of Poland,” said Judge Dixon.