Couple Steals 45 Bottles Of Wine
A court in Spain has sentenced a couple over what they term as a “meticulously planned” theft.
The couple is accused of stealing 45 bottles of wine worth over 1.6 million euros (Ksh.297M) from a hotel restaurant.
They left the restaurant in Atrio, Caceres, western Spain, with the wines wrapped in hotel towels to avoid breakage before hiding them in their travel bags, according to the court ruling.
The couple are reported to have visited the restaurant three times in the months preceding the robbery on October 27, 2021, when the woman checked in to the adjacent Atrio small luxury hotel using a fake Swiss passport.
Her husband later came but did not check in. They later had a 14-course dinner at the restaurant, followed by a guided tour of the wine cellar.
At about 2 a.m. the woman then called the front desk, requesting for a salad before later ordering a dessert.
The clerk who declined because he was alone at the hotel, finally gave in to their orders due to their persistance leaving the front desk unmanned.
It was then that the woman’s boyfriend got an opportunity to steal an electronic key from the front desk to open the wine cellar but unfortunately he it was the wrong key.
The couple after successful efforts stole and left the hotel at around 5 a.m.
They were eventually arrested on the border of Montenegro and Croatia in July 2022, police said at the time.
As at now no wine has been recovered but the restaurant has been compensated with €753,000 from its insurance company.
The court sentenced the woman to four years in prison and the man to four-and-a-half years for armed robbery with additional damage of €753,000.
The court also allowed them to appeal the ruling in a higher court.
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