A man whose curiosity ‘got the better of him’ and broke into a derelict lock keeper’s cottage ended up getting bolted inside.

Norbert Somogyi, 31, was only freed when the neighbour who bolted back down the dislodged wooden board checked his CCTV and realised that he must still be inside the canal-side cottage.

Prosecutor Zarah Dickinson told Oxford Crown Court that the helpful neighbour spotted Somogyi in the vicinity of Lock Cottage, Little Bourton, on March 23 last year and was ‘a little suspicious’ of him.

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He passed by the cottage later and noted one of the wooden board used to secure the empty property was no longer bolted down.

“He bolted it shut then went back to where he lived on his boat and reviewed the CCTV,” she said.

On the video footage, Somogyi could be seen walking around the cottage before climbing through a window into the house.

Realising he’d effectively shut the defendant inside, the boat dweller called the police. Somogyi was found in the cottage at around 12.30pm.

Ms Dickinson said that he was searched and a lock knife with a three-inch blade was found in his trouser pocket.

Inside a small tin, also found in a pocket, were three plastic ‘snap bags’ containing a white powder that was later confirmed to be amphetamine.

Somogyi, of Margaret Close, Banbury, pleaded guilty to possession of the lock knife and amphetamine. He had previously faced an allegation of burglary, but the charge was dropped by prosecutors. The only matter on his criminal record was a caution in August 2020 for possession of amphetamines.

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Gareth James, mitigating, said of Lock Cottage: “It is a building the defendant had passed several times on this particular day. Curiosity got the better of him so he climbed in to work out quite what the building was.”

He was ‘fully compliant’ with the police when they arrived to arrest him and had volunteered the fact he had a knife on him.

Somogyi had not realised the blade – illegal because it locked into place – was unlawful. The knife was not used to threaten anyone, Mr James said.

The advocate told the judge that his client was an occasional user of amphetamine and was not addicted to the class B drug.

“He realises he has let himself down. He realises he was foolish and he apologises for his behaviour. He strikes one as a man who is genuinely remorseful about the trouble he has caused,” Mr James told Judge Maria Lamb.

Somogyi was sentenced to 18 weeks’ imprisonment suspended for two years, fined £200 and ordered to do 100 hours’ unpaid work.

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