24 Hours in Police Custody returns to C4 and focuses on career criminal Sandel Hornea – but where is the delivery driver who committed assault now?
Sandel committed the appalling crime of posing as an Amazon delivery driver before viciously assaulting three women.
Here’s everything you need to know about Sandel Hornea’s crimes, why he committed them, and where he is now.
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24 Hours in Police Custody on Channel 4
The gripping real-life police series 24 Hours in Police Custody returns for a 12th series.
In the first of six new episodes on C4, police officers search for a man in Luton who has committed a string of disgusting attacks within the area.
Sandel Hornea disguised himself as a delivery driver.
He then forced his way into people’s homes and committed unprovoked brutal assaults.
However, when the police investigation failed to make headway, the family of one of the victims launched a campaign for information on social media.
The family member posted CCTV images of the assault on Facebook, and offered a reward of £20,000.
However, although well intentioned, this threatened to derail the investigation as it increased the likelihood of the criminal seeing he was at risk of discovery and going to ground.
Next week (Monday October 4 2021), a violent brawl fought with knives and hammers breaks out in front of a Luton takeaway.
Police struggle to deal with the case due to a lack of personnel.
The local MP raises the issue in Parliament as a result of the dire situation.
Detective Scott Hannam of the Criminal Investigation Team takes charge of the case and discovers a long-running feud between two rival families over control of the lucrative spicy chicken trade.
Fake Amazon delivery driver on 24 Hours in Police Custody
Career criminal Sandel Hornea violently attacked three women in their own Montrose Avenue home.
Viewers see the traumatic events play out in harrowing scenes caught on CCTV.
In 2019, he arrived at their house in Luton carrying a bogus cardboard box, and pretended to be an Amazon delivery driver.
Once the door is opened and he has forced himself inside, he knocked an elderly grandmother to the floor and dragged her into the kitchen.
The woman can be seen laying on the floor and screaming in agony after suffering a bleed to the brain.
Sandel then punched the 14-year-old granddaughter in the face, fracturing her eye socket.
When the home owner’s sister went to investigate, she too was punched in the head.
Sandel brutally punched her five times before he fled with a games console which he mistakenly thought was the CCTV hard drive.
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24 Hours in Police Custody: What happened to bogus delivery driver Sandel Hornea?
Sandel subsequently fled to Romania after the botched robbery.
But thanks to the discovery of his fingerprints on the phoney Amazon parcel, he was eventually captured by Romanian police.
He returned to the UK in March 2020.
Shockingly, Sandel has already served a nine-year jail term in Italy for sex trafficking.
He was able to enter the UK in 2019 when Britain was still observing freedom of movement rules before Brexit.
Bedfordshire police discovered he had numerous convictions in Romania, Hungary and Italy for sex trafficking.
Acting Det Insp Tom Hamm said: “How can someone who did a nine-year stretch be allowed to come here?”
Where is fake Amazon delivery driver Sandel Hornea now after brutal assault?
Sandel Hornea returned to the UK from Romania on March 27 2021.
This followed a collaborative effort between Bedfordshire Police and Romanian authorities.
Romanian-born Sandel Hornea, now 36, pleaded guilty at Luton Crown Court to wounding, GBH, ABH, robbery, theft and burglary.
Although police charged him with sex trafficking offences, the charges were later dropped.
A judge charged him with nine offences including three counts of wounding.
The charges included three counts of wounding, and two counts of Section 18 grievous bodily harm (GBH).
Also, one count of actual bodily harm (ABH), robbery, theft from a person and burglary respectively.
He is currently in prison where he can’t hurt anyone anymore.
24 Hours in Police Custody starts on Monday September 27 2021 at 9pm on Channel 4.
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