Over three months at the beginning of the year, a burglary spree took place throughout Runnymede.

Police first received a 999 call in early January when the residents had arrived home to find their back door smashed in and glass scattered over the floor.

While nothing physical had been stolen from the house, officers say the occupants were robbed of the safety they previously took for granted in their home.

In CCTV recovered, a lone hooded figure was seen at the property trying to find entry into their home. Later, a moped was spotted leaving the area on cloned plates.

At the next property, the back fence had been broken and the glass side door shattered which allowed the burglar in their search for valuables to trash the house then steal items and cash totalling over £24,000.

Once more, a man in a hooded black jacket was spotted and a moped was later identified leaving the scene with cloned plates.

The person then burgled other homes in Surrey, each following the same pattern of a smashed door or window, a hooded man acting suspiciously and a moped on cloned plates speeding away.

However it was on final property that things started to turn.

Through various enquiries officers managed to track down the moped’s real plates, leading them to Warick Rapela’s home address. On arrest, officers found in his home numerous fake number plates, a signal jammer and a high-visibility jacket that matched CCTV footage of the moped traveling to and from the targeted addresses.

He was subsequently charged with conspiracy to commit burglary.

42 year old Warick Rapela of Heybridge in Essex pleaded guilty to four counts of residential burglary, as well as a burglary offence from 2024 in Essex. Rapela was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.

The investigating officer, Police Constable Rebecca Clarke said: “This was a great result which shows the tenacity of Surrey Police in pursuing offenders of acquisitive crime. We will continue to relentlessly pursue offenders in order to obtain justice for our victims.

“Beyond the financial impact of the offences, burglary has a huge effect on the wider community, not to mention completely destroying the victims’ feeling of safety in their own homes. Hopefully, this result will bring them some closure.”