Man sentenced to three years for Burgh Heath jewellery burglary

A man was sentenced to three years in jail for burglary at Guildford Crown Court on Wednesday, 13 October.

In February this year, Antony Moriarty, 35, of Hulverston Close, Sutton broke into a house belonging to a couple in their 70s and stole jewellery from them. Police had already received a report from another householder in the area to say that she had come face to face with a man in her utility room, who had fled when she said she was calling the police.

Officers quickly deployed to the area and almost immediately spotted Moriarty who claimed he had been at work in a local supermarket. Suspicions aroused by his lack of uniform and the changing details of his story, police arrested Moriarty and found jewellery in his jacket pocket, as well as a number plate that had been stolen from a car in the area on the same night in Moriarty's bag.

PC Joe Brown who was in charge of the case says: “While this was definitely one of the more straightforward cases for us, this doesn't make it any less pleasing to see Moriarty jailed for a lengthy period of time. I am grateful to the officers that first responded to this incident, their quick intervention and initial investigative skills resulted in Moriarty's arrest, and as a result it was great to be able to quickly reunite his victims with their stolen jewellery.”