Brighton burglar caught after leaving muddy footprints from stolen Nike Airforce 1 trainers

A prolific burglar with a taste for collectible trainers has been jailed for six years, after admitting a string of theft offences across Brighton.

Derek Antwi, 29, of Upper Hollingdean Road, would wear stolen clothes from previous break-ins, while carrying out multiple raids across the city- leaving muddy footprints from limited edition Nike Airforce 1s.

They included a pair of limited edition tan and blue Airforce 1s that were found in Antwi's flat.

Investigators also linked Antwi's break-ins by a pattern of entering through the back of properties, smashing through patio doors and ransacking rooms in his search for valuables.

Antwi was involved in a series of incidents in which a bank card was stolen, as well as bikes.

He also threatened to stab two residents of Silverdale Road after they disturbed him stealing two bicycles from their shed, andwas chased away by residents of a property in Stanford Road, having stolen some trainers from a front doorstep and burgled a property next door.

Antwi was arrested on January 18 following a report of two bikes worth £6,500 being stolen from a garage in Westbourne Gardens. When Antwi was arrested shortly after, he had a receipt from a pawnbrokers in his pocket showing he had sold one of the bikes for just £120, and he still had the cash.

He was charged with three counts of burglary, one count of robbery, three counts of fraud, one count of theft of a pedal cycle, two counts of theft from a person and two counts of handling stolen goods.

He pleaded guilty to all charges except one burglary and one count of handling stolen goods, which will lie on file. At Lewes Crown Court on Thursday, May 19, Antwi was jailed for six years.

Investigator Rose Horan said: "Derek Antwi is a committed criminal who was relentless in his offending across Brighton and Hove.

"His crimes caused financial damage to his victims, violated their personal spaces and in some cases resulted in direct threats to their safety.

"Our investigative team were able to spot similarities in the modus operandi of several break-ins and conclude this series was being carried out by one individual.

"Assisted by an overwhelming amount of evidence linked to Antwi - which ultimately helped secure the guilty pleas - we were able to identify a suspect, bring him into custody and take him off the streets.

"I would like to thank all of the victims for their support in this investigation and everybody involved who helped to bring this conviction."