A man who stole valuable coins worth £161,000 was arrested by police after a DNA hit from a cup he drank while viewing the coins at an address in Norfolk.

Jaroslaw Piotrowski, 30, had gone to view the coins, which included an Elizabeth I gold sovereign and a Henry VIII gold sovereign, at a property in Swanton Morley after they had been advertised on eBay.

Piotrowski, who was left alone at the house by the owner when he made a phone call, ran out of the house with the coins.

But police revealed he was later arrested following a DNA hit from a cup he drank whilst viewing coins at the address.

The coins stolen included a 1642 Triple Unite; two Henry VIII Sovereigns; a James Rose Royal; an Elizabeth I Sovereign; a 1692 William and Mary Five Guinea; a 1678 Five Guinea and a 1679 Five Guinea.

Piotrowski, of Colwell Drive, Witney, in Oxfordshire, appeared at Norwich Crown Court yesterday where he admitted the theft of the coins.

The court heard that two of the coins worth £40,000 had been recovered.

Piotrowski's barrister Janick Fields said that he wanted to repay all the cash the stolen coins were worth.

He said that Piotrowski worked full-time for a letting agency and also bought and sold cars and was wanting to pay all the money back at a rate of £10,000 a month.

He said that Piotrowski had lived in Britain for 10 years and had a wife and two young children.

Prosecutor Lori Tucker said that there would be a confiscation hearing in the case.

Judge Katharine Moore adjourned sentencing until March 29 and ordered a pre-sentence report.

She granted Piotrowski bail, but asked that he report to his local police station in Witney on a weekly basis and also hand in all his travel documents.

She warned him: 'These are serious matters and the custodial threshhold is crossed.'

Originally a 33 year-old man Lukasaz Piotrowski, of Holford Road, Witney, Oxfordshire, had also been charged with handling stolen goods in Swanton Morley, but the case against him was dropped after the prosecution offered no evidence.

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