Polish man jailed for robbing Chinese TV star

A Polish man who stole jewellery worth more than half a million euros ($555,000) from Chinese TV star Liu Tao's hotel room in Denmark was jailed for ten months Wednesday.

Rafal Ireneusz, 33, admitted the burglary but said he did not know in advance the hotel room contained jewels, watches and cash worth about 575,000 euros ($625,000).

During his trial in a Copenhagen court, Ireneusz added that he had not been aware of who was staying in the room.

Calling himself "very ashamed" for what he had done, he told the court: "Give me another chance and I will work to make up for it."

The Copenhagen City Court also sentenced Ireneusz to a six-year ban from the country, which begins when he is released from prison, his lawyer, Kristian Jensen Braad, told AFP.

Ireneusz was arrested in the southern port of Rodbyhavn as he prepared to board a ferry to Germany on December 9, three days after the burglary.

Liu was in Denmark to work with Danish shoe brand, for which she does promotional work in China.

The star wrote about the incident on the Chinese social media network Weibo, posting on December 8: "Although terrified for 24 hours... I still love this fairy-tale country."

She thanked Danish police, as well as the Chinese embassy in Denmark and the Danish embassy in Beijing.

Photo: Chinese TV star Liu Tao (thelocal.dk)