A robber in the UK has received eight years in prison after his burglary of a flat in East Sussex was caught on Xbox Live.
Jay Georgiou, 19, was one of two robbers who broke into the flat on April 1, according to The Argus. At the time of the break-in the occupants were playing Call of Duty: Black Ops II on Xbox live with a friend in Brighton.
Georgiou hit one of the occupants with an object appearing to be a gun while the second intruder took a kitchen knife. The two tied up the occupants and demanded money and drugs, and threatened to stab or shoot them if they failed to comply. In the midst of the invasion, Georgiou even stopped to take a phone call from his probation officer.
The robbers made off with cellphones, a laptop and the Xbox, but apparently didn’t realize the entire incident was being transmitted online to the occupants’ friend in Brighton, who alerted authorities after hearing it transpire via audio.
Georgiou was subsequently identified and arrested less than two hours after the break-in. The second suspect has yet to be identified.
“This was a terrifying incident for the victims who appear to have been targeted entirely by mistake,” Detective Constable Richard Holder said. “The robbers were brutal in their treatment of the friends but Georgiou even stopped during the incident to take a phone call from his probation officer as he had missed an appointment.”
Georgiou was fined and sentenced to eight years in prison for robbery and possession of a fake firearm on July 11. The detective said the search will continue for the second suspect.