Amazon driver facing jail after casually stealing family’s cat from front garden

An Amazon delivery driver is facing up to five years in prison after admitting stealing a family’s ‘much-loved’ cat.

Catalin Stancu, 42, was caught red-handed on a Ring doorbell snatching tabby Nora from Carl Crowther’s front garden after dropping off a package.

When the family discovered she was missing, they searched for her high and low before checking the doorbell footage and discovering Stancu had taken her.

They posted the footage online after the theft in January. It quickly went viral and sparked a widespread search for the four-year-old cat.

Within hours, Nora’s owner Carl Crowther, 53, received a message from Stancu telling him: ‘Hello — I have your cat’.

Nora was later safely reunited with the Crowthers and their other cat, Domino.

Meanwhile, the Romanian national was arrested and charged. He admitted the theft during a brief appearance at Bradford Magistrates’ Court this week.

District Judge Alexander Boyd said the offence was ‘far too serious for just a financial penalty’ and he was considering ‘all options, including custody’.

The offence of theft of specific animals carries a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison.

However, it is a relatively new offence and therefore lacks sentencing guidelines, meaning courts have limited guidance on how offenders should be punished when considering aggravating and mitigating factors.

Judge Boyd explained that the offence ‘was brought in to recognise that a pet is not just property, it’s a part of the family, which clearly it was in this case’.

With this in mind, he adjourned sentencing until May 14 to allow time for a probation report to be compiled.

Earlier, the court heard that Stancu was delivering parcels for Amazon in the West Yorkshire town of Elland on January 18 when he stole Nora.

He rang the doorbell and left the package on the doorstep when no one answered. After noticing Nora, he bent down, snatched her, and left.

In a victim impact statement, the family said: ‘When we discovered that Nora had gone missing, we had no idea where she was, or whether she was injured or even alive.

‘Finding out that she had been intentionally taken only increased our fear and emotional distress.

‘Knowing that she had been taken from our garden, a place where she should have been safe, makes it even more shocking.

‘For four days we were left in complete uncertainty and the emotional toll on our family was overwhelming.’

They added: ‘Nora’s not just a pet, but she’s a much-loved member of our family. To have something so important to us taken felt unreal.’

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