Burglar Caught By Watching Police

A house-breaker under police surveillance who was caught committing his second burglary in a week has been locked-up for three years.

Clive Lindsey, 40, of Knights Place, Noke Drive, Redhill, Surrey was only in the second property two minutes when officers saw him leaving with a bright pink carrier bag containing two stolen laptops.

He was arrested on November 25, last year as a result of an intelligence operation by Merton Burglary Squad.

Lindsey broke into a house in Graveney Road, Tooting at 1.20pm then ran to his parked car in nearby Fishponds Road.

Officers followed the vehicle, a green Ford Ka, into Lessingham Avenue, where it was stopped at the junction with Francisan Road.

Lindsey was arrested and officers seized the pink carrier bag, which contained two laptops and a pair of socks from the address.



Lindsey was taken to Wimbledon police station for questioning and linked to a further burglary, which occurred on November 17 at an address in Reigate, Surrey. 



Detective Constable Ian Griffith, from Merton Burglary Squad, said: "The evidence against Lindsey was so overwhelming and strong that he was given no other choice then to plead guilty to both offences.

“In this case we were able to recover the stolen items and return them to their rightful owners within a matter of hours, a real result for the victims in this matter. 



" Lindsey has now been brought to justice for his crimes and the message is clear - we will use all the intelligence and resource available to us to disrupt criminals and gather the most compelling evidence to present before the courts."