Prolific burglar caught close to scene with bag of stolen items jailed

A prolific burglar who was caught with a bag of stolen items close to the property he broke into, whilst police officers were there taking a victim statement, has been jailed for 13 months.

Benjamin Money, 36, was seen on CCTV on 22 August this year, jumping over the fence into the garden of a property in Riverside, Bedford.

He entered a home office on the premises and left with a bag full of stolen items, including laptops, a camera and an iPad.

The occupant of the property called the police and when one of the officers who attended viewed the CCTV, he was able to identify Money as the suspect.

Whilst the officers were still there taking a victim statement, the victim’s dog started to bark and alerted them that Money was still in the vicinity.

He was located wearing the same clothes he had on in the CCTV footage and in possession of the bag of stolen items, and was promptly arrested.

Money, of Ampthill Road, Bedford, pleaded guilty to burglary, as well as possession of Class A drugs and possession of a bladed article, and was sentenced on 4 November to 13 months in prison.

Detective Constable Pawel Karpinski, from Bedfordshire Police’s Operation Maze burglary team, said: “I am pleased that we were able to put Money behind bars as this will provide some reassurance to the local community that their properties are safer and more secure from this prolific burglar.

“Burglary not only causes distress for those individuals affected but has overarching effects across entire communities and as a specialist unit and will investigate every incident, so we would urge people to come forward if they have been a victim of this type of crime.”

Anyone wanting to report a crime is asked to call 101 or report online.