A prolific north London burglar from Barnet was sentenced to three years imprisonment at Harrow Crown Court on 22nd August 2005.

Rhys Robins 34-yrs (DOB 13/12/69) unemployed of No Fixed Abode pleaded guilty to 101 burglary offences committed between October 2003 and December 2004 when he was arrested.

All of ROBINS' offences appeared to be concentrated in the same area of East Finchley, all of which had a number of similar burglaries. All the properties he targeted were Victorian terraced houses with sash cord windows.

In July 2004 DNA evidence was received at Barnet police indicating that ROBINS was responsible for three burglaries on the Borough; Park Hall Road N2 on 10th February 2005, Hamilton Road N2 in July 2004 and Durham Road N2 in July 2004.

Unfortunately officers were unable to trace ROBINS’ location, and it appeared that he had not come to police notice since October 2003.

Continued investigation to locate ROBINS revealed that a man giving a date of birth matching ROBINS’ had been stopped by police in HOLDEN ROAD N12 in September 2004. This man gave his name as Richard JAMES.

Further research showed that police in Tottenham had also stopped a Richard JAMES in July 2004. This time he had given an address of 123 Holden Road N12. This was a fictitious address.

The house on this site had been bombed during the war and a block of flats named Four Acres had been built on the site.

However in December 2004 a vehicle stolen from the Hamilton Road burglary was recovered outside this block of flats. Other burglaries where cars had been taken from were looked at and vehicles that were still outstanding were identified,

Officers went to Holden Road and outside Four Acres found a 2nd vehicle taken from a burglary the previous week. Further examination of the vehicle revealed suitcases on the back seats, which contained stolen property from the burglary.

It was believed ROBINS was still using cars he had taken.

Following the discovery of the cars officers identified a flat in Four Acres that ROBINS appeared to be using.

Police attended that address on 12/04/05 and ROBINS was found inside and arrested. Upon entering the address officer found him surrounded by property from several of his most recent burglaries and three more stolen cars were found in the vicinity of this flat.

ROBINS told police he identified empty houses by post left on doormats, and lack of lights at night. He was not put off by alarmed premises if the alarm boxes appeared un-serviced, and would spend several hours inside a house once inside.

He would take suitcases from the property and fill them with the owners CD and DVD collections, which he would sell at car boot sales during the week.

ROBINS has a good knowledge of antiques and art, and often took musical instruments. On one occasion he took a Cello valued at £80,000. ROBINS read an article in a local Barnet newspaper about the theft and felt guilty about this “crime against music”. He returned the Cello to the house he had taken it from, leaving it on the front door step for the owner to find.

Detective Constable Stephen O’Connell the officer in charge of the case said,

“This was a case of checking and carefully looking at information and digging deeper.  

“ROBINS was an exceptionally well-organised and professional residential burglar. He is very calculating and planned his offences meticulously.

“He ensured he was well groomed and smart. He made sure his vehicles were always tidy and road legal so as not to attract attention of the police.

“He had street maps and sketched layouts of potential target addresses prior to committing offences.  He had sewn Velcro to his clothing, which he used to attach torches, screwdrivers and even night vision glasses.

“Notes found at his flat indicated that he had planned to relocate soon to Enfield Borough to continue his activities there. He had a two-year plan to go into the production and cultivation of cannabis, with the aim of returning to his hometown near Swansea to retire and enjoy his ill-gotten gains.

“ROBINS could not believe we had managed to track him down, believing he had covered his tracks to evade capture too well. He thought that he could outwit us forever - but he was wrong.  When we caught him he seemed surprised.”

“I am pleased that we have managed to remove a prolific burglar from Barnet and prevented him from moving on else where to continue his crimes.”