A man has been jailed for four years following a string of overnight burglaries over a Bank Holiday weekend.

Around 17 burglaries were reported in Thanet, Canterbury, Whitstable and Herne Bay on May 5 and May 6 including a raid on the Wildwood Trust last month.

Jordan Line, 25, of Margate Road, Ramsgate was charged with conspiracy to burgle.

Watch: Footage of raid at animal centre in Herne Bay

On Thursday, Line was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to the charge at Canterbury Crown Court.

Last month, charity boxes were stolen and cash boxes and safes were ransacked from a number of locations, including private addresses, cafes, offices, industrial units, and bars in Herne Bay, Manson, Ramsgate, Broadstairs, Westgate, Birchington and Canterbury.

Attempts were also made to steal the cash boxes attached to washing machines in the laundry area of a caravan park.

A total of 17 burglaries and attempted burglaries were reported.

Victims came forward with footage of the masked offender recorded on their CCTV systems.

An investigation was launched by Kent Police and within three days of the burglaries, 25-year-old Jordan Line had been identified by officers as one of the offenders and was arrested.

Detective Sergeant Jay Robinson, whose team within Kent Police led the investigation, said: "This result is down to brilliant support from the businesses involved, and a lot of swift work from officers reviewing hours of CCTV and having the good local knowledge to identify an offender. Work is still very much ongoing to identify the others involved in the burglaries.

"We always encourage businesses and homes not just to consider installing CCTV but also to spend time learning how to operate and download it.

"In this instance having the ready availability of the CCTV footage meant there was nowhere for Line to hide and consequently he was arrested and charged very quickly."

The Wildwood Trust uploaded footage of the thieves breaking in to the centre on to social media.

More than 30 people identified Mr Line from the security video - which received over 150,000 views on social media - to help police with their inquiries.

Peter Smith from Wildwood Trust said: “It is fitting that the security system which caught the robbers was originally acquired to record footage of baby dormice to help scientific research into their care and protection.

"Yet the same system, which had been relocated to the shop after upgrading the cameras for the dormice, caught the robbers red handed when they were stealing donations made to our baby dormouse appeal.

“Our security system was praised by the police for its high quality and was a vital part of the evidence that brought this prolific criminal to justice”.

To read more of our in depth coverage of all of the major trials coming out of crown and magistrates' courts across the county, click here.

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