AN INTERNATIONAL criminal who stole rings given by murdered York backpacker Caroline Stuttle to her father has been jailed for six years.

Caroline was 19 when drug addict Ian Previte robbed and killed her on April 10, 2002, as she fulfilled her dream to travel across Australia.

Her family set up Caroline’s Rainbow Foundation in her memory to help other young people fulfil their dreams.

On March 25 this year, professional international criminal Mihai Dobrea acted as lookout for raiders who broke into the home of Caroline’s father Alan Stuttle while he was out and stole rings she had given him, as well as other jewellery worth hundreds of pounds and an air pistol, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecuting, Laura Addy said: “Nothing could be worse than the loss of one’s daughter, but still, he (Mr Stuttle) is very upset by the burglary and distressed at having these special items stolen. He feels completely helpless to recover the items.”

The rings have never been found.

Judge Andrew Stubbs QC said police found items stolen in a spate of burglaries by Dobrea parcelled up ready to be sent to his native Romania when they searched his house three days later.

He said: “It is plain to me the defendant is a career criminal travelling from country to country to commit crimes.”

He jailed Dobrea for six years.

Speaking after the hearing, Mr Stuttle told The Press he “would rather have given him £100 and told him to go away”, than lose the rings, cufflinks and watches given to him by Caroline, but while he was upset to lose them, he remained philosophical about Dobrea’s crimes.

He said: “It’s another wasted life, like the guy who killed my daughter.

“It’s no good being angry about it, because it’s done. You never get the artefacts back, but you can hope he learns something about it, especially after burgling an old lady, that was despicable.”

Ms Addy told the court that Dobrea carried out eight more burglaries including the home of two people in their 70s by himself in Scarborough and Scalby in February and March until he set off an alarm at 4.55am on March 28, when he burgled three houses in the same street.

One of the victims saw him fleeing through his dark garden and alerted police. They caught him cycling down a track through woodland towards more houses with items he had stolen that night and a knife in a stolen rucksack on his back. He claimed he had been painting a friend’s house. More items were found at his home.

He had served long prison sentences for robbery and burglary in his native Romania and burglary in Germany from which he had been deported in June 2015.

Mr Stuttle said he had been shown a watch recovered from Dobrea’s flat which he recognised, but had come to accept he would probably never see the other items again.

He said: “It would make me very happy to know where they are or have them back, but I don’t think I will. They will have been sold.

“They can’t take the memories away from you, and they can’t take your dreams away. That’s what I used to tell my children, and that’s what I believe.”

Dobrea, 45, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to all nine burglaries and carrying a knife in public at an earlier hearing.

Representing himself, he claimed he had been denied his human rights and treated “as an animal” by everyone. He also claimed everyone was prejudiced against him because he was Romanian and therefore people suspected him of being a criminal.

After confirming that he was guilty of the offences more than once, he finished his lengthy speech with the words: “All I want to say is I am not guilty to any offence.”

The judge, who had spent an entire morning presiding over the hearing at which Dobrea pleaded guilty after the prosecution explained all the evidence against him, said he was satisfied Dobrea was guilty.

Ms Addy said Dobrea’s activities had left children too scared to be on their own at home. A couple who had lived in their home for 45 years would never feel safe in it again, she added.