Benefits Street burglar caught out when neighbour made horror discovery

A serial criminal broke into the house of one of his own neighbours while they slept on the road made famous by Channel 4 series Benefits Street.

Harminder Singh broke into a family of seven’s home while they were asleep on James Turner Street in Winson Green, Birmingham.

Singh, aged 44, who has wracked up nearly 170 crimes in his life, stole a PlayStation 5 from the property. He claimed he later heard children from the home crying over the loss and he “couldn’t live with the consequences.” He still sold the console.

Neither Singh nor the victims appeared on the controversial Channel 4 series from 2014.

Birmingham Crown Court heard how the break-in took place in the early hours of May 14 this year. One of the male occupants woke up after hearing someone moving furniture in the living room. The male occupant had noticed the front door was open and found a Nokia phone that was dropped on the floor by Singh.

Within minutes of fleeing the address Singh returned to retrieve the phone and told the family he had been robbed of it as well as two laptops, reports BirminghamLive.

Prosecutor Maninder Chaggar said: “He walks straight into the front room and starts looking around at the floor where the phone had been found. [The occupant] realises this may well be the burglar.

“He instructed his son to lock the front door and the police are called. Within minutes the police arrived. He managed to keep the defendant in his property.”

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Ragveer Chand, defending, told the court his client had recently become a father for the first time. He said: “As a consequence of becoming a father for the first time this defendant is determined to put his past firmly behind him. Sometimes those life-changing events can be the catalyst by which people put their past behind them.”

Singh maintained his lie to West Midlands Police claiming he saw a hooded culprit steal his belongings and “presumed” they were black.

He has 68 previous convictions for 168 offences, including 70 theft-type crimes, although this was his first house burglary. Singh has also breached court orders 24 times.

Chand added: “The defendant’s instructions are that on hearing the children crying when he was outside the address he simply couldn’t live with the consequences of depriving them of the PS5. There maybe a degree of skepticism because the court knows it hasn’t been recovered.”

Singh, who lived in a HMO, admitted burglary and was sentenced to 27 months at Birmingham Crown Court on Wednesday, July 17.

Judge Avik Mukherjee stated Singh’s first burglary was a “significant change” and an “escalation” of his offending.

He also cast doubt on his claim he was ready to change his ways and said: “Your partner must have been pregnant in March, April and May which didn’t prevent you realising this was a life you need to leave behind for your newborn child.

“Nonetheless if that’s something that’s going to convince you that this is a road that needs to come to an end that bodes well for the future.”