Moment police arrest one of Britain's 'most wanted' burglars after nearly 70 break-ins

• Watch the moment one of the burglars was arrested, and the CCTV footage that helped identify them

This is the dramatic moment one of Britain's 'most wanted' burglars was arrested after targeting 68 elderly and vulnerable people during the height of coronavirus restrictions.

Dobroslav Gabor and Marek Balog committed 68 burglaries in only four months between 23 July to 7 November 2020.

They targeted the elderly and vulnerable across the West Midlands in Sandwell, Walsall and Birmingham, breaking into people's "safe havens" when the country was under lockdown restrictions.

Video report by ITV News Central Reporter Rosie Dowsing

They stole prized possessions and sentimental items, making people "fearful to sleep in their own beds", police said.

They hit an elderly man and threatened him with a knife before stealing his money and taking his wedding ring, and also "raided" the home of a deaf man.

CCTV footage, released by West Midlands Police, shows the pair walking into people's homes after posing as workmen, offering services to gain access.

Once inside, police say the two men stole money and bank cards, as well as electrical items and jewellery.

As the spree of break-ins intensified, police say that the community rallied around.

Victims and their neighbours worked together to gain information and eventually got hold of Balog's ID card, which they handed over to the police.

Fingerprints identified Gabor as the second burglar after prints left at the scene of a break-in on Midland Close were found on the police database following a knife offence earlier in 2023.

Gabor was arrested in October after a woman saw him using her bank card in a shop in Handsworth, only a day after it was stolen in a burglary at her home.

The 26-year-old was charged with burglary - but was later released by Birmingham Magistrates Court.

While he was out on bail, the two men continued to commit burglaries across the region including an aggravated burglary at a property in West Bromwich.

Gabor and Balog walked straight into the house of a vulnerable 81-year-old man, who had left his front door open while he waited for a visit from carers.

They hit the elderly man and threatened him with a knife before stealing money from his pockets and taking his wedding ring.

The victim managed to press his emergency alarm for help, but the two burglars locked him in a room and unplugged his phone line.

He was eventually taken to hospital for his injuries but his health unfortunately deteriorated and he died recently.

The two men also pickpocketed a man asleep in his own home, and "raided" the house of a deaf man.

After a public manhunt using social media, West Midlands Police arrested Balog while he committed a burglary in Cheshire, and Gabor just days later in Birmingham where he was found hiding under a fence panel.

At Birmingham Crown Court on 5 May 2022, Gabor, pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary and conspiracy to commit 67 burglaries and was jailed for 16 years.

On 15 October 2023, Balog pleaded guilty to those same offences and was jailed for 14 years and 10 months.

DC Suzie Doidge said: "Gabor and Balog targeted people in their homes at a time when the country was under huge lockdown restrictions, meaning their homes were their safe haven. But these men broke in and took that from them.

"They stole their prized possessions, and sentimental items and made people really fearful to sleep in their own beds.

"This was such a complex job, with so many offences and different strands, I am so pleased to finally see these two men being jailed for their crimes."

She added: "When your home is broken into, it leaves such a devasting lasting effect on people. I want to thank all of our victims and the wider public for their co-operation and I hope that this outcome provides some comfort to the families I have worked so closely with over the last few years."

The son of the 81-year-old victim said: "I am glad some proper justice has been had. It is a shame that my dad isn't around to hear this as he would have been really happy with this."

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