A BURGLAR was caught red-handed with a haul of stolen watches, jewellery and laptops in Thornton Heath thanks to quick-thinking members of the public.
Richard Taylor, 49, was given a 12 month sentence, suspended for 18 months at Croydon Crown Court yesterday (January 12) after pleading guilty to burgling a house in Redford Avenue.
Detective Constable Kim Lim, from Croydon CID, said the case was a "great example of the public and police working together".
Taylor was caught on October 20 after people had called police reporting they had witnessed somebody breaking into a house.
They said they had seen the man get into a vehicle and make off. Police traced the vehicle to Taylor's address in Loughborough Park, Lambeth.
Police found Taylor inside along with the watches, jewellery and laptops that were stolen in the burglary.
DC Lim said: "Thanks to the quick thinking of the public, who had seen Taylor acting suspiciously and the swift work of the uniformed officers attending his address, he has been caught whilst still in possession of the items he'd stolen, which have since been returned to the victim."
