A burglar has been jailed for six and a half years after a series of break-ins at homes and sheds in Canterbury over the course of nine days.
Sean McNamara committed the burglaries between 12 and 20 August 2021, but he was recognised on CCTV by a local officer and arrested by Kent Police’s Chief Constable’s Crime Squad.
On 2 November, he was sentenced for two counts of burglary, two attempted burglaries and nine counts of fraud relating to the use of a stolen bank card.
The 28-year-old, of no fixed address, also asked for six other offences to be taken into consideration, relating to five other burglaries and theft from a vehicle.
Offences
The first burglary took place in the Knott’s Lane area of Canterbury on 12 August, when a house was broken into and an expensive road bike, a wallet and a bottle of whisky were stolen while the owner slept upstairs.
McNamara then used the owner’s bank card in supermarkets, corner shops and service stations nine times in the following days.
On 13 August, a vehicle was broken into outside a hotel in the city and another wallet was stolen. McNamara also broke into a shed in the Pound Lane area on the same day and took two more bikes.
On 16 August, two further bikes were stolen from Marlowe Avenue and the owner later saw one of them being ridden by a man in the city. Investigations later confirmed McNamara had sold the bike to the man.
McNamara broke into two further homes, one in the Westgate area, another in Wincheap, on 18 August and stole headphones, a wallet and a games console; before burgling two more properties, one in Wincheap, another in St Radigand’s on 19 August, taking bikes and cash.
Arrest
His final two offences were attempts to break into a garage and a business in St Peter’s Street on 20 August. He was tracked down the same day and arrested by police.
Detective Sergeant Jay Robinson, of the Chief Constable’s Crime Squad, said: ‘McNamara was relentless in his targeting of people’s homes, businesses and vehicles in order to make money from selling on the stolen goods.
‘Despite the number of offences he committed in such a short amount of time, it’s very important to remember that each of these crimes has a victim who would have been impacted by his actions.
‘I am pleased that the number of offences we proved he committed has led to him receiving a considerable sentence, and the people of Canterbury will no longer be affected by his repeated offending.’