10:30am Monday 1st February 2010
By John Hoskins
A SERIAL burglar who brought misery to dozens of people in a Hampshire town has been jailed for five years.
Kieron Scott targeted nearly 30 homes and stole property worth more than £20,000.
Weeks after being released from prison on licence, heroin addict Scott was back to his old ways, breaking into homes in Eastleigh’s railway estate.
Detectives soon realised it was the work of one man because of his standard method of using a stick through the letterbox to unlock the front door.
Suspicion quickly fell on 29- year-old Scott. He was first seen empty-handed in the area, but half an hour later was spotted riding a bike and carrying a rucksack and a bag.
They contained electronic games, a laptop computer, euros and personal papers he had stolen from his latest victims, prosecutor Eleanor Fargin told Southampton Crown Court.
Scott, of Southampton Road, Eastleigh, admitted one burglary and asked for 28 others to be considered, involving property often of sentimental value.
Passing sentence, Judge Derwin Hope told Scott: “You have to completely change your lifestyle or you will be spending longer and longer in prison as time goes by. Having a drug problem is no excuse.”
In mitigation for Scott, who had 17 previous convictions, David Jenkins said his story was an all too familiar one for courts.
“At an early age he started taking drugs, first cannabis, and now he is addicted to heroin. He has offended because of his craving.”
After the case, DS Phil Jones, the senior investigating officer, told the Daily Echo: “I want to reinforce the crime prevention message that householders must fit deadlocks to their doors and make sure they are locked, as their property is very vulnerable to this type of offence.”
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