The pair, 32 and 37-years-old, tunnelled their way through a wall last August to get into the Dorotheum branch in the Brigittenau district. It took them about three hours to make a hole in the rear wall of the building, and they were able to get in and empty the display cases before the shop opened.

They didn’t realise the value of the goods they stole – which were worth nearly €82,000. "We sold them to a gypsy who sells salad at Brunnenmarkt for only €9,000,” the younger man told the court. They also received only a fraction of the value of the goods they stole from three homes.

An informer brought the two Serbs to the police’s attention, who then put the two men under observation and tapped their phones.

Police noted that the older man was not very professional. In three burglaries, which they believe he carried out alone, he had cut himself, leaving blood and DNA at the scene. He has already been convicted of around 50 burglaries in Belgium.

He was sentenced to six years in prison, and his younger accomplice got four years.