THREE men have been jailed for stealing £60,000 of jewellery and other items in a series of burglaries across the south of England – including a break-in at Crooksbury Road, Farnham, on January 26 last year.

Lewis Kelleher, 30, of Byerley Road, Portsmouth, Sami Hussain, 25, of Edith Road in Hammersmith, and Richard Ashley Hart, 34, of Conigham Road, Hammersmith, were found guilty of 27 counts of burglaries.

They also caused more than £28,000 of damage as they forced their way into people’s homes.

At Guildford Crown Court last Friday (January 11) Kelleher pleaded guilty to 21 offences and was sentenced to five years and seven months.

Hart pleaded guilty to three offences and was sentenced to two years and Hussain pleaded guilty to 11 counts of the 21 burglaries and was sentenced to four years and three months.

Between November 2017 and July 2018, the trio targeted properties in Surrey, Hampshire, Sussex and Hertfordshire. In July, a series of search warrants were executed in Portsmouth, Fulham and Hammersmith by officers from Surrey Police and Hampshire Constabulary.

Kelleher was found at an address in Fulham and arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to burgle. His mobile phone was seized, as were his trainers which matched those worn at one of the offences. Further warrants resulted in the arrests of Hussain and Hart.

While searching Hart’s home, officers recovered a black crash helmet matching that which was seen on CCTV during a burglary in Haslemere.

The trio burgled ten properties in and around Haslemere – many on the same day – making off with cash and jewellery. They first struck in High Street Green, Chiddingfold, on January 22, and then broke into a house in Crooksbury Road, Farnham, on January 26.

They carried out four burglaries on February 21, breaking into a house in Kemnal Park, Haslemere, and three other nearby properties in Haslemere Road, Bowlhead Green and Brook Road.

Three further burglaries in Haslemere were committed on June 5, when they forced their way in and stole valuable items from homes in Beech Road, Stoatley Rise and Bunch Place.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Arun Sharma said: “Unfortunately these men caused grief to many victims. I hope the sentences given give some reassurance to those burgled and that their sentences act as a deterrent to others.”