ONE of Hampshire's most prolific burglars is today behind bars after admitting to more than 200 burglaries - at the age of just 20.
Michael Watkins, pictured right, was the head of a gang who targeted leading high street stores by disabling alarm systems and stealing safes full of cash and stock.
He led ten others, who in the space of a year broke into scores of shops across the south netting a haul of more than half a million pounds.
The Hampshire-based gang, one of whom was as young as 15, committed burglaries within days of each other.
They were captured after an operation was launched by specialist police officers who identified those behind the network by piecing together DNA evidence.
FULL STORY AND BACKGROUND IN YOUR ECHO TONIGHT
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