A SOUTH Woodham Ferrers man has been jailed for more than five years after admitting a spate of burglaries.

Tim Gell, of Melville Heath, South Woodham Ferrers, was arrested by Essex Police and was charged with burling four homes in South Ockendon and Harwich in May.

Suffolk Police believed he may have been responsible for other offences and officers from the Constabulary’s Operation Converter team began work with him.

Gell went on to admit 23 further offences in Suffolk, Essex, the Metropolitan area and Cambridgeshire.

They included burglaries in Harwich, Colchester, Chelmsford, Chadwell Heath, Bicknacre, Runwell and Stock.

Gell appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court on Thursday, where he was sentenced to five and a half years in prison.

It is known he stole over £5,000 worth of property and caused more than £2,000 worth of damage during the course of the crimes.

Detective Inspector Matthew Adams, who oversees the Operation Converter team, said: “This case again demonstrates both how a spate of burglaries can be down to one offender, with a string of crimes in Suffolk in early to mid-April and in Essex from mid-April to early May.

“He committed offences far and wide from the outskirts of London to Suffolk Coastal to south-west Cambridgeshire. He was originally arrested by Essex officers on May 8 after he was found in possession of property stolen from a burglary in Harwich on May 6.

“From there Suffolk’s Operation Converter team became involved and, in liaison with Essex Police, worked with Gell to encourage him to admit any further offences he had been involved in, resulting in 23 further crimes being detected.

“These were submitted to be taken into consideration at sentencing, resulting in Gell being jailed for more than five years. We know that home burglaries can be extremely distressing for residents and the impact Gell had should not be underestimated.”