Prolific burglar Ronald Hearn has been sentenced to two years in prison after admitting to more than 40 burglaries across Kent.

Hearn, 44, who has previously lived in Herne Bay and the Medway towns (Gillingham and Rochester) was appeared for sentencing at Canterbury Crown Court on Monday 14 December.

DNA evidence link

At an earlier hearing he had admitted breaking into a home in Shakespeare Road, Birchington, in October 2008 and stealing golf clubs, alcohol and ornaments. The court heard that Hearn’s DNA had been recovered from a hammer found at the scene.

He had also admitted taking a silver platter from a house in Beacon Hill, Herne Bay, in September 2008. The platter was later recovered at the home of his girlfriend.

London arrest

Police had been searching for Hearn after the DNA hit and in October this year he was spotted in Plumstead, London, and returned to Canterbury for questioning.

Following this arrest Hearn admitted a string of offences that he had committed to fund his heroin addiction. He even took police officers on a tour of east Kent, identifying properties he had broken into.

Thefts to pay for drug habit

Hearn stole more than £65,000 of property ranging from jewellery to computer and camera equipment - all of which he sold on to pay for his drug habit - from addresses in Ramsgate, Margate, Birchington, Westgate-on-Sea, Herne Bay, Whitstable, Canterbury and Rochester.

Many of the homes were broken into through side and rear doors and windows. He even broke into a health and beauty business in Whitstable, taking facial products and cash from a hairdressers’ in the town.

Hearn asked that all these offences and others committed in Sussex were taken into consideration prior to today’s sentencing.

Drug use stopped

Detective Constable John Daly, who investigated the burglaries, said: 'These burglaries caused a great deal of upset and anxiety to those whose homes were broken into and were purely motivated by Ronald Hearn's addiction to heroin. It seems that he has now stopped using drugs and we can only hope that this continues and that he has, as indicated, turned his life around.'

Posted on: 14 December 2009