A man wanted for six burglaries in Thamesfield has been arrested and is in custody after police tracked him to a local park using intelligence. Armed officers and a dog unit backed up plain-clothes and uniformed officers from the local Safer Neighbourhoods Team (SNT) who had identified the suspect’s movements, his clothing, and how he was getting around.
He was found with stolen property and a knife.
“We located a name, we know how they were getting about, and what clothing they would essentially be wearing,” said Sergeant Gary Berry, the SNT’s new team leader. “Today, we’ve reaped the rewards.”
Berry described the man as “the Southwest’s most wanted nominal” (in police terms, a named person of interest known to officers).
Four arrests in five days
The second enforcement result came on Putney High Street. A man released from prison roughly a month ago was subject to a Criminal Behaviour Order banning him from the High Street and the surrounding area. He ignored it. Officers arrested him four times in five days for breaching the order. Three times, he refused a caution. He has now been recalled to prison for 28 days.
“People don’t have to worry about antisocial behaviour and drinking alcohol on the high street,” Berry told last night’s Thamesfield Ward Panel.
The officer behind it
Berry joined the Thamesfield patch four weeks ago from a proactive crime team. He spoke at last night’s ward panel with notable candour about what he is doing and why.
His method: use crime data to put officers in the right places at the right times, rather than hoping random patrols get lucky. For known shoplifting hotspots, that means plain-clothes officers in stores during the periods when prolific offenders tend to show up. The two arrests were not an accident.
“As a new leader to this team, I’m looking to take my team forward using an intelligence-led approach to ensure our limited resources are used correctly within the right areas,” Sgt Berry said.
Overall crime in Thamesfield has fallen roughly 30 per cent since last October, according to official figures.
The SNT has been active on Thamesfield burglary prevention since at least May. February’s ward panel painted a harder picture: vehicle crime rising, priorities being reset. Last night’s results are the clearest sign yet that the reset is working.
For a precedent on the court order used to get the repeat offender off the High Street, see Putney.news’s 2025 report on a prolific parcel thief banned from the borough for a decade.
Contact your local SNT
To sign up for local crime alerts and updates from the Thamesfield SNT, visit MetEngage. You can report crime online at met.police.uk.
