Amateur detectives helped police catch a Lambeth burglar red-handed and bring him to justice.
Richard Taylor of Loughborough Park was sentenced yesterday to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, at Croydon Crown Court, having previously pleaded guilty to burglary.
He was caught by police after quick-thinking members of the public dialled 999 at 3.30pm when they witnessed someone breaking into a house in Redford Avenue in Thornton Heath.
They told officers how they had seen the man get into a vehicle and make off from the house.
Enquiries were quickly carried out into the vehicle and police traced it to Taylor’s address in Loughborough Park.
Officers attended and found Taylor inside along with watches, jewellery and laptops that were later found to have been stolen in the burglary.
Taylor was arrested and charged with burglary the following day.
He pleaded guilty to the offence on November 5 and was subsequently sentenced.
Detective Constable Kim Lim, from Croydon CID, who investigated the case said:
“This is a great example of the public and police working together that has resulted in a burglar being caught.
“Thanks to the quick thinking of the public, who had seen Taylor acting suspiciously and the swift work of the uniformed officers attending his address, he has been caught whilst still in possession of the items he’d stolen, which have since been returned to the victim.”
