Macleod: Kris Cjepa pleads guilty to aggravated burglary of home
When a 60-year-old Macleod woman woke to a man breaking through the laundry door while her young granddaughters slept nearby, she wasn’t going to let him get too far without a fight.
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A 60-year-old woman used a knife to forcefully get rid of a man who broke into her Macleod home, where her young grandchildren were sleeping.
Kris Cjepa continued to roam the house even after the woman confronted him, causing her to drive him out the front door while bearing a kitchen knife.
The 40-year-old fronted Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, June 30, having been locked up since his arrest on May 27.
The court heard the woman was woken to noises at the laundry door of her Skye St home about 2.30am on March 30.
She went to investigate, and found Cjepa had broken into the house through the laundry door.
Leading Senior Constable Steve Wood said Cjepa walked towards the woman, repeatedly saying, “I’ve got to get to the safe and back room”.
The woman then ran past the man in the hallway and went to the kitchen to grab a knife.
Her five-year-old and seven-year-old granddaughters were asleep in a bedroom off the hallway.
The court heard she saw Cjepa walking out of one of the bedrooms before she got behind him and pushed him down the hallway, helped by her daughter, who had woken and come out of a bedroom.
Leading Senior Constable Wood said there was a short struggle before Cjepa was pushed out the front door and it was slammed and locked.
When police attended they found a spot of blood at the doorway, which was later confirmed as being Cjepa’s.
The court heard Cjepa was a drug user of many years who was diagnosed as having low cognitive function.
He pleaded guilty to the aggravated burglary after Magistrate Ian Alger indicated he would order two months’ imprisonment for the crime, with Cjepa having already served 34 days.
Mr Alger noted Cjepa had no previous history of aggravated burglary and said he would have sentenced him to three months’ jail if he hadn’t pleaded guilty.
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