More than 1,000 years in prison sentences have been handed to violent burglars and knife wielding thieves in two years thanks to a Kent Police team.

Since launching in February 2019, the Chief Constable’s Crime Squad has locked up offenders for a total of 1,041 years, in addition to making 692 arrests and receiving authority to issue 2,066 charges.

Last month alone, their investigations led to offenders being jailed for 67 years and nine months.

Twenty-three arrests were also made, with 71 charges authorised.

Detective Superintendent Mike Worrall, from Kent Police, said: "Month in, month out my officers achieve outstanding and meaningful results which achieve justice for victims and protect the public from further harm.

"Securing 1,000 years in jail time, in less than two and a half years, is a testament to their expertise.

"A large proportion of those imprisoned have shown a propensity to carry weapons and commit serious assaults on innocent victims, often to steal valuable and hard earned possessions.

"We have no tolerance for such offending and will always take the most robust, but proportionate, course of action available.

"This includes obtaining warrants and entering offenders’ homes to detain them and ensure they are held to account.’

Among those jailed in June are three men who broke into a Gillingham home and threatened to stab its occupants before stealing money and a designer watch.

They will serve a combined total of 27 years.

Elsewhere in Medway, two brothers who stole more than £10,000 from an amusement arcade in Chatham were jailed for 14 years and nine months between them.

"We will always take the most robust, but proportionate, course of action available ..."

The two men brandished a knife and threatened members of staff.

A man and a woman involved in a Folkestone shop robbery, which saw an employee threatened with a seven inch bread knife, were also jailed for a total of more than nine and a half years.

And a hooded robber who grabbed a Ramsgate shop worker by the throat and threatened her with a knife before stealing cash and cigarettes was jailed for eight years.

In addition to those imprisoned, numerous other suspects have been remanded in custody ahead of future court proceedings.

Among them is an Ilford man who is alleged to have travelled to Kent and burgled shops across Rochester, Gillingham, Gravesend, Sittingbourne, Tonbridge, Greenhithe and Aylesford.

He has been remanded in custody and will next appear at Maidstone Crown Court in mid-July.

The team also charged two Ashford men with conspiring to supply heroin and crack cocaine after a vehicle was stopped across the Sussex border in Winchelsea.

They have been remanded in custody to appear at Canterbury Crown Court later this month.

A Sheppey man has also been remanded in custody having been charged with conspiring to rob the occupants of homes in Sheerness.

He is the third person to have been in receipt of such enforcement action for the case, with two men from Deptford charged the previous month.

All three men will next appear at Maidstone Crown Court on a date to be determined.

Det Supt Worrall added: "As we look to the month ahead, we already have several officers lined up to give evidence in court to help ensure further offenders who present a harm to the public receive appropriate sanctions.

"We’re going to continue to make the county a difficult place for criminals to operate and anyone with aspirations of committing similar offences can be assured there is a very high probability of themselves being caught."

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