Carlisle designer handbag burglar used disguises, court told

One victim of Angelina Warnke’s “utterly selfish” offending – which included several frauds she committed using stolen credit cards – recalled waking from a nap on his settee to be confronted by the burglar.

After staring at him for a few seconds, she brazenly asked for a carrier bag.

So shocked that he was unable to speak, the man looked on as Warnke calmly walked into the kitchen of his house, helped herself to a carrier bag she found on a worktop and then filled it with goods before leaving.

At Carlisle Crown Court, her defence lawyer Jeff Smith said she blamed her actions on having used tobacco which was laced with drugs.

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At an earlier hearing, Warnke, 41, pleaded guilty to three burglaries, six frauds and one count of vehicle interference. Daniel Bramhall, prosecuting, outlined how the defendant carried out her offending over 10 days in June.

She specialised in stealing designer handbags and then using the credit cards as if they were hers as she used them in shops around Carlisle.

The first burglary was on June 12 when Warnke clambered through a bathroom window of a nurse’s home in Garfield Street. Denton Holme, as the victim slept following a night shift. The defendant stole the woman’s handbag from the kitchen.

It contained her driving licence and a Gucci wallet, containing bank cards. Five days later, Warnke broke into a house in Linton Close, off Lindisfarne Street.

The victim was woken at 8am when a neighbour called round to report seeing something suspicious on his CCTV. The images captured Warnke walking out of the victim’s home carrying a Luis Vuitton bag which also contained bank cards – cards which were used in a local supermarket later that morning by Warnke.

Two days later, on Sunday, June 19, Warnke struck again, this time at a house in Pennine Way, Harraby. Describing the victim’s experience, Mr Bramhall said: “He was at home and had fallen asleep while watching TV.

“At 1.50pm, when he woke up, he saw the defendant standing in front of him, staring at him. At this moment, [he] was in shock and didn’t say anything. But the defendant asked him for a plastic bag.”

The householder did not respond but watched as Warnke strolled into the kitchen, found a bag and left after stuffing it with items to steal. The court then heard impact statements that were made by the three victims.

The nurse said she no longer felt safe in her home and was now constantly checking that her doors are locked. “The thought of somebody being in my house absolutely freaked me out,” she wrote.

The second victim said he felt sorry for Warnke and hoped that she learns from her mistakes. The third victim said he kept thinking about what happened.

“Since the incident,” he wrote, “I keep making sure my doors and windows are shut and locked, even when I am in.

“I keep thinking about the incident and how close she was to me when I was asleep; I had my phone in my top pocket and wondered whether she was trying to get that. I hope this will teach her a lesson and stop her from doing it to someone else.”

Recorder Ian Unsworth QC accepted that the defendant, who wept throughout the hearing, had in the past suffered from domestic violence and that her life had been in a desperate state.

But the judge told Warnke: “Whatever your justification for your actions, you showed utter contempt for those householders.

“Your utterly selfish offending was motivated by your desire to obtain items which didn’t belong to you and which in all probability were to be sold to help you purchase drink or drugs or something else.”

Recorder Unsworth rejected the defendant’s claim that the wigs found at her home were linked to her work as a hairdresser, saying: “At the time of your arrest, a wig was found nearby and at your property, on being searched, as well as a number of personal items there four wigs.”

Those wigs were also consistent with images captured of Warne on CCTV. “You sought to disguise yourself,” said the judge. Noting the weeping of the defendant, the Recorder told Warnke: “At the time you had absolutely no remorse for your actions.

“While you are crying now, I am sure that those tears are for yourself; you have shown precious little remorse or understanding for those householders.”

Warnke, of Rydal Street, Carlisle, was jailed for 18 months after Recorder Unsworth noted that she had sought to minimise her offending in discussions with a probation worker and displayed no insight into her wrongdoing.

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