THE residents of Basingstoke are safer after one of the town's most prolific burglars was jailed for four years in 2003.

Jay Bishop, of Hill View Road, South Ham, has committed more than 70 burglary-related offences in that year alone and has a string of convictions dating back to 1990.

Sentencing Bishop, Judge Patrick Hooton said the 28-year-old had "an appalling record of crime".

Investigating officer, WPc Karen Jones, described Bishop as one of Basingstoke's "most prolific" criminals.

Bishop was the first burglar on the graph published in last week's Gazette which showed how the burglary rate in Basingstoke had reduced dramatically following the arrest of five of the town's suspected worst offenders.

Bishop appeared for sentence after pleading guilty to three counts of burglary in the Basingstoke area.

However, these crimes merely represented the tip of the iceberg. He asked for scores of other offences to be taken into consideration.

After his arrest by Basingstoke police in May, Bishop confessed to committing more than 80 offences during the last year, including 49 domestic burglaries, as well as three commercial burglaries, 17 attempted burglaries, two burglaries with intent and two thefts.

Winchester Crown Court heard Bishop was a drug addict who stole to fund his addiction for heroin and crack cocaine. He was described as an opportunistic burglar whose victims ranged from young to old.

His general "modus operandi", said David Richards, prosecuting, was to use a screwdriver to enter houses, although he would also sometimes use garden implements such as spades. Bishop generally took credit cards, cash, chequebooks, mobile phones, DVDs and electrical items such as televisions. One raid saw him leave with more than £30,000 worth of jewellery.

As well as targeting houses in Basingstoke, Bishop burgled homes in Whitchurch, Alton, Church Crookham and Farnham. However, the majority of his burglaries took place in Brighton Hill, South Ham, Buckskin, Hook and Kempshott.

When Bishop was arrested at his girlfriend's house in Hill View Road on May 9, Basingstoke police had forensic evidence linking him to three burglaries and these made up the three counts against him.

One had been committed the previous day in Derwent Road, Kempshott. The owners of the house had spent an evening at the theatre.

When they returned they saw a light on and the shadow of a person in their house. By the time they entered the house, Bishop had fled with a large amount of jewellery.

Mr Richards said this amounted to "well in excess of £32,000". He had used a bag he found in a wardrobe to collect the jewellery. Several items of the stolen jewellery were at Bishop's girlfriend's house when he was arrested.

Bishop also directed officers towards a bin where he had deposited the jewellery he didn't want.

At the time of the Kempshott crime, Bishop was on police bail for a burglary he had committed in February. This offence took place in Paddock Road, South Ham, when a father discovered Bishop leaving his shed with his son's mountain bike. He challenged Bishop and tried to detain him.

In the ensuing struggle Bishop headbutted the father, sustained a bloody nose and wriggled free. As he escaped he told the father: "You're a dead man," the court heard.

The third count related to a burglary on January 13, 2003. A woman in Cheviot Close, Buckskin, was awoken by a loud noise in her kitchen at 3.30am.

When she went downstairs she discovered muddy footprints and saw that she had been the victim of a burglary. Bishop had stolen credit and store cards.

The court heard that after initially being uncooperative, Bishop opened up to police officers.

He confessed to the three burglaries and then disclosed 84 more offences, most of which were burglary-related, over the next three or four days.

Pieter Briegel, defending, said Bishop's confessions were evidence of a wish to change his ways. He claimed: "He does want to turn over a new leaf and that constructive approach was reflected in his approach to the police. The majority of the crimes he admitted to would not have been solved without his candour.

"It's really down to him what he does with his life when he comes out. He must reflect on why he's wasted his life."

Bishop (above) expressed his remorse in a statement read out in court, adding his crimes "have been purely to fund a drug habit". He added he was trying to clean up his act.

Passing sentence, Judge Hooton told Bishop: "I sentence you with no relish. You've got an appalling record of crime and I don't know whether you will have one in front of you.

"I'm impressed by the fact you genuinely seem to want to change. Thanks to you, more than 80 crimes have been cleared up. However, I can't overlook what you've done, and you must be punished for it."

Judge Hooton also spoke of how the "lenient" sentences handed to Bishop over the years had not worked.

In addition to being jailed for the burglaries, Bishop was given a three-year sentence to run concurrently for breaching a one-year Drug Treatment and Testing Order order issued at Salisbury Crown Court in March 2002.

After Bishop was led away, WPc Karen Jones told The Gazette: "This is the sentence we expected.

"Jay Bishop has been one of Basingstoke's most prolific criminals for many years. He's got quite a bad drugs background, and it just goes to show that using heroin and crack cocaine is very expensive.

"He obviously had to commit a lot of crime to fund that habit, and as his use was increasing, he had to commit more burglaries.

"As a police force we are aware of the link between drugs and crime.

"I think the judge's sentence indicates that burglaries are very serious matters that won't be taken lightly."

Detective Sergeant Mike Scott, of Basingstoke CID, said: "This case was a really good team effort involving about half a dozen officers from Basingstoke. They did a great job. It was a good example of police teamwork."

Praising his officers, Superintendent Paul Netherton, of Basingstoke police, said: "We are very pleased with Jay Bishop's sentence. It means he won't be preying on the residents in Basingstoke for the next few years.

"We will continue to target burglars and this sentence is what they can expect from the courts."