The Putney man who was hunted down in a local park last month, crowbar in hand, stolen property in his bag and a knife concealed on him, has pleaded guilty to all 14 charges against him at his first court appearance.
He remains in custody awaiting sentencing later this year.
The 14 charges break down as 12 burglaries, one count of going equipped to steal and one of possessing an offensive weapon. We reported the charges in May.
The arrest was the first major result of a deliberate personnel decision. When Inspector Paul James took over Putney’s policing in March, one of his early moves was to bring Sergeant Gary Berry into Thamesfield, then seeing a surge in burglaries across the riverside wards.
Berry, who had come from a proactive crime team, analysed crime data himself to identify the suspect’s movements, known hotspot locations and offending times. He then ran a directed three-day operation using high-visibility and plain-clothes patrols. “We located a name, we know how they were getting about, and what clothing they would essentially be wearing,” Berry told the Thamesfield ward panel after the arrest. “Today, we’ve reaped the rewards.”
Armed officers and a dog unit backed up the local team when they tracked him down on the third day. He was also, it turned out, wanted on recall to prison. Berry had described him as “the Southwest’s most wanted nominal” (the police term for a named suspect known to officers).
Recorded crime in Thamesfield has fallen by around 30% since last October, according to official figures. As we reported last week, James has continued the same approach across Putney, joining his officers on patrol personally.
A sentencing date has not been confirmed. We will report the outcome when it is set.
