A brazen burglar who successfully stole high value watches worth more than £1million from a Bluewater retailer has been jailed.
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During the evening of 7 February 2025, David Buisson travelled to the shopping centre in a Mercedes GLA displaying cloned number plates and driven by a criminal associate. They stopped in one of the adjacent car parks and Buisson got out wearing a facemask and a high visibility tabard. He accessed a service area and then the roof where he climbed into the business he was targeting using a telescopic ladder. Buisson then went to a secure area where he overcame several security measures and stole more than 150 watches from a safe before returning to the car park. An alarm had activated and when staff came to check the premises, they discovered the burglary and called Kent Police. A team of specialist detectives were immediately deployed and their initial enquiries identified the Mercedes with its fake number plate that had been used by the burglars. Their investigation found it had not activated Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras in the county other than those at the shopping centre prior to the break-in.
The detectives then examined hours of CCTV and ANPR footage in north Kent and located an identical Mercedes with a different registration number that had triggered an ANPR camera in Dartford after the burglary. Further enquiries identified it had travelled onto Harlow in Essex and then Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire.
Vital Clue
Interrogation of insurance databases gave investigators a vital clue when they found Buisson’s partner in crime was a named driver for the vehicle and lived near Beaconsfield. A complex investigation ensued, and detectives were able to prove that the same Mercedes had travelled to Bluewater more than 10 times, sometimes using other false number plates, between 13 January and 7 February. On each journey it had stopped in Harlow, where Buisson lived. Examination of multiple CCTV cameras at locations on the route to Bluewater showed he had been present in the vehicle.
On 12 February, Buisson, from Harlow was tracked down in Penrith, Cumbria and arrested. A search of his home address and vehicles located a video camera with a memory card. This had five videos that showed footage of the burgled business prior to the offence being committed. His partner in crime was arrested on the same day at Waltham Abbey, Essex. Three of the stolen watches were recovered from the car he was driving.
Associate Died Whilst On Remand
Buisson was charged with conspiracy to commit burglary and was remanded to prison. His associate was also charged with the same offence but died whilst on remand.
Guilty
On 16 July, Buisson, aged 56, pleaded guilty to the indictment. On Thursday 11 September, he was sentenced to six years and one month in prison.
Investigating officer, Detective Constable Harry Groves, said:
‘Buisson is a career criminal who spent a considerable amount of time planning this high-value burglary. Our exhaustive enquiries were able to show there had been a period of reconnaissance both inside and outside the shopping centre and that, on the day of the break-in, steps had been taken to disguise both Buisson’s appearance and the vehicle he was using. This burglar bypassed a sophisticated security arrangement and thought he had escaped detection. His confidence was misplaced however and some dogged investigation assisted by both the business he had targeted and the Bluewater security team, ensured he was tracked down. Buisson is now serving a lengthy prison sentence in prison and our investigation will continue in an effort to recover the stolen watches that have yet to be recovered.’