A "CAREER criminal" who pleaded guilty to 104 burglaries has been sentenced to five years in prison.
Anthony Murray, of Purley Way, admitted taking jewellery, electrical items and fishing equipment from a house in Woodplace Lane, Coulsdon, on April 25 last year.
He was brought to justice after a burglary at a farm in the Worth area of Crawley, West Sussex in which thousands of pounds of jewellery was stolen.
A CCTV image of the 31-year-old showed him at the premises on the afternoon of April 10 this year.
Officers later discovered a large haul of stolen items at his home, linking him to the crimes.
Murray's crime spree extended across Sussex and Surrey with high-value jewellery and electronic items regularly on his list.
After being charged the two offences, on April 25 last year, a further 102 burglaries dating back to March 2010 were taken into consideration. Those crimes all involved high value jewellery and electrical items being taken.
Detective Sergeant Lee Hazell, of Surrey Police, said: "Anthony Murray is a career criminal who we are pleased to see off the streets given his high level of offending in and around our county.
"The sentence handed to him reflects just how serious an impact his crime spree had on his victims who lost nearly £700,000 worth of goods as a result.
"It is all the more pleasing as we have been able to return some of the stolen items to their rightful owners."
Murray was sentenced on Tuesday (August 26) at Lewes Crown Court.
