A STUDENT couple were stunned when they found a half-naked stranger lounging around their home after returning from holiday.

The home invader had strewn his belongings all over the place and had even helped himself to their clothes.

Denoora Lyu, a 22-year-old student at the University of Sydney, made the startling discovery when she got back to her apartment with her boyfriend, William Qu.

To their horror, they found Dylan Patrick Yelkovan, 30, sauntering around the place dressed only in a pair of shorts.

The apartment was littered with his belongings, which he had laid out across the sofa, desk and kitchen counter.

The brazen guest was unfazed by the couple’s return and made no attempt to flee.

Denoora told 7NEWS: “I thought I’d gone to the wrong place at first.”

But realising she was in fact in her apartment, panic began to set in.

The student said: “I felt really shaken. There was a complete stranger standing in my home, and he wasn’t even wearing a shirt.

“It just didn’t seem normal.

“I kept thinking, what if he had a knife? I was scared of what he might do.”

When confronted, Yelkovan calmly packed up his things, strolling from room to room as if nothing were wrong.

He eventually left the apartment via the balcony.

Denoora said she believes this is how he got in in the first place.

Yelkovan was eventually arrested with the help of the building manager.

The two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment was being leased by the couple’s friend who had gone away for the university summer.

The pair were intending to use it as temporary accommodation while hunting for their own home for the new semester.

Before heading away, Denoora and William dropped off their belongings, neatly packed away in boxes.

And Yelkovan had helped himself to these boxes as well as the apartment.

The intruder had rummaged through the lot – and used whatever he liked.

Denoora said: “He unpacked every single box and used everything inside, including the desktop computer, which hadn’t even been set up at the time.

“He pulled out all the spare phones that weren’t in use but couldn’t access them due to passwords.”

William’s clothes were also apparently fair game.

Yelkovan had worn what he liked – and some were stained with faeces.

He had even used William’s bank card – though thankfully the bank refunded the stolen money.

Not refunded, however, is the $2000 the couple had to spend on professionally cleaning the apartment and the hotel costs during that time.

Denoora said: “I’ve seen stories about break-ins like this before, but when it actually happens to you, it’s still really shocking.”

He ordeal resurfaced in May when she spotted Yelkovan in Sydney – meaning he was not in prison as she had expected.

Court records show Yelkovan pleaded guilty and was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment, to be served as an Intensive Correction Order (ICO) for the break-in, running until December 31.

That means he avoided jail but is subject to a strict set of restrictions.