A thief who stole elephant tusks valued at £20,000 from his landlord’s house has been jailed for 14 months.
Aurimas Kyliokas talked Nazir Valihahomed, a colleague at the restaurant he was working in in Dundee, into giving him a room at his home in the city’s Carseview Gardens.
Six months later Kyliokas, a Lithuanian national, fled with two elephant tusks, two ivory statues and £400 worth of cigarettes and e-cigarettes.
Fiscal depute Eilidh Robertson told Dundee Sheriff Court none of the items Kyliokas stole have ever been found by police.
She said: “Mr Valimahomed claims that the elephant tusks were worth £20,000.
“Police were called and he later spoke to a work colleague who said that the accused had been asking her questions about the value of ivory.
“Police also traced two men who told them the accused had tried to sell them the elephant tusks a few weeks after the theft.”
Kyliokas went on to break into a newsagents in the Lochee area of Dundee – stealing £3000 worth of cigarettes and £30 in cash.
Miss Robertson added: “CCTV clearly showed the accused smashing the window of the store shortly before 5am on November 5 2015.
“He is then seen walking down the street carrying several carrier bags of cigarettes.
“None of the stolen property has been recovered.”
Kyliokas, 33, a prisoner at HMP Grampian, pleaded guilty on indictment to two charges of theft by housebreaking.
Representing himself, Kyliokas told the court through an interpreter: “I would like to apologise to these people to whom I have done these things.
“I am sorry for my deeds.
“When I did these things I was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
“I’m ready for any punishment you are going to give me.”
Sheriff Lorna Drummond QC jailed Kyliokas for 14 months and one week.
She said: “I’m in no doubt these offences warrant custody.
“They are all the more serious standing your record.”
