A serial thief who relentlessly burgled homes, sheds and cars around Canterbury over the course of nine days has been put behind bars.

Sean McNamara stole a number of bikes from across the city, as well as a host of other items, in August.

The 28-year-old, of no fixed address, has now been jailed for six-and-a-half years.

McNamara was sentenced on Tuesday for two counts of burglary, two attempted burglaries and nine counts of fraud relating to the use of a stolen bank card.

He also asked for six other offences to be taken into consideration, relating to five other burglaries and theft from a vehicle.

All of his crimes took place between August 12 and August 20. He was caught out after being recognised on CCTV by a police officer and arrested.

His first burglary was in the Knott's Lane area of city, when a house was broken into and an expensive road bike, wallet and bottle of whisky were stolen while the owner slept upstairs.

'McNamara was relentless in his targeting of people's homes, businesses and vehicles...'

McNamara then used the owner's bank card in supermarkets, corner shops and service stations nine times in the following days.

On August 13, he broke into a vehicle outside a hotel and stole another wallet. On the same day, he also broke into a shed in the Pound Lane area and took two more bikes.

Three days later, two further bikes were stolen from Marlowe Avenue.

McNamara broke into two further homes, one in the Westgate area, another in Wincheap, on August 18 and stole headphones, a wallet and a games console.

He then burgled two more properties – one in Wincheap, another in St Radigund's – the following day as he made-off with bikes and cash.

His final two offences came on the day he was caught.

He attempted to break into a garage and a business in St Peter's Street on August 20, but was tracked down and arrested.

Detective Sergeant Jay Robinson said: "McNamara was relentless in his targeting of people's homes, businesses and vehicles in order to make money from selling on the stolen goods.

"Despite the number of offences he committed in such a short amount of time, it's very important to remember that each of these crimes has a victim who would have been impacted by his actions.

"I am pleased that the number of offences we proved he committed has led to him receiving a considerable sentence, and the people of Canterbury will no longer be affected by his repeated offending."

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