Residential burglar sentenced to over three and a half years in prison

A man has been sentenced to three years and seven months in prison after being found guilty of residential burglary and theft of a motor vehicle.

Luke Young, 31 of Kingswood Avenue, Thornton Heath was sentenced via video link on Friday, 5 November after being found guilty of burglary and theft charges.

Officers were first made aware of Young’s crimes following reports of a car being stolen from a driveway in Kingston Road in Epsom on 22 February last year. The victim had returned home to find his Jaguar had been stolen from the driveway. Officers attended however there were no CCTV or forensic opportunities, leaving the investigation in a difficult place.

The following day, a further call came in reporting a residential burglary at an address in Chessington. Attending officers reviewed smart doorbell footage with the victim, which showed the stolen Jaguar from the day prior, being driven to the property, followed by footage of a man leaving the property holding many of the victim’s belongings including a variety of sentimental jewellery, consisting of necklaces, earrings, brooches, bracelets and rings. Some of this jewellery belonging to the victim’s late mother. Also stolen were expensive watches and an IPod Touch.

Enquiries identified Young as the driver of the stolen vehicle which was recovered the following day at another location in Chessington. Young was arrested on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle and residential burglary. In interview, Young denied ever entering the address or having a knowledge of the car.

He was sentenced via a Crown Prosecution Service video link to a total of three years and seven months behind bars after being found guilty of residential burglary. He was also sentenced to 10 months for theft of a motor vehicle which will run concurrently with his other sentence. Young was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge.

Police Constable, Joseph Brown, who led this investigation said “This is a great result for a residential burglary investigation, something which we know is a concern to the public in Surrey.

“In this investigation, we managed to obtain some high-quality footage, captured on the victim’s video doorbell so we would encourage the public to implement measures such as these and CCTV where they can, as video and audio footage of a crime in action can act as vital evidence in any case.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the victims in this case for their continued patience whilst we put together the evidence that ultimately gave Young no other option but to plead Guilty.

Following the launch of the Autumn Nights at the end of last month, Detective Chief Inspector Jak Bowers, Force Lead for Burglary, said; “Burglary is a crime that we are all vulnerable to and is one that can leave victims really feeling traumatised and unsafe in their own homes.

"Although you can never say that you have completely ‘burglar-proofed’ your house, there are certain things you can do to help make this crime less likely to happen to you. These include installing video doorbells, CCTV, security lights, making sure your house looks occupied when out and even using 'defensive planting' by putting spiky or thorny plants around your garden to keep would-be thieves out. We are hoping that this campaign will help people feel more secure in their house and be proactive in preventing burglars ‘at the front door’”.