A bungling burglar was caught staring straight into a security camera and realising he’d been rumbled.
Ricky Rixon looked directly down the lens of a hidden home CCTV system while raiding yet another property during a months-long burglary spree.
The 39-year-old and his accomplice Lorenzo King, 36, stole cars and flogged sentimental jewellery snatched from victims’ homes – including a ring given to one woman by her late husband.
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Using fake identities, they made £7,405 selling stolen pieces to pawnbrokers, as reported by Need To Know.
The pair targeted 12 homes across Sevenoaks and Tonbridge between October 2023 and January 2024.
Their downfall came when the covert camera captured them breaking in through a glass door and stealing jewellery – footage later used as key evidence.
Rixon, of Spindle Mews, Orpington, was arrested when police found a stolen car forensically linked to him.
A search of his phone identified King, of Beckenham Road, Beckenham, leading to his arrest soon after.
Both men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary and laundering criminal property.
They were each jailed for five years and four months at Maidstone Crown Court on Thursday (4 Dec).
Detective Constable Celia King said: “Rixon and King smashed their way into homes, leaving victims frightened and vulnerable, before unscrupulously selling their sentimental items as scrap metal.
“The offenders went to great lengths to avoid detection, but thanks to the victims’ quick reporting and the clear evidence gathered, they have now been brought to justice.”
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