A man has been jailed for seven years after he admitted carrying out a series of burglaries in Stansted Mountfitchet and Saffron Walden.

Neil Newling, 42, who appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday (January 27) was described by a judge as a “recidivist burglar who targeted the elderly and vulnerable”.

He admitted 13 counts of burglary and one count of theft of a car which was taken during a burglary at Gilbey Crescent, Stansted.

The burglaries all happened in July and August last year. Newling was arrested on Saturday, August 31 at his home at Meredith Court in Stansted Mountfitchet.

Newling was given a seven-year sentence for the burglary at Gilbey Close and seven years concurrently for the theft of a BMW car from that address.

For each of the other 12 burglaries he was given a six-year sentence, all to run concurrently.

DI Alan Stevens, of Braintree CID, said after the hearing: “I hope this sentence serves as a warning to others whose persistent crimes bring nothing but heartache and distress to their victims.

“This man carried on committing burglaries for nearly two months despite extensive searches and investigations by police.

“He thought he could stay one step ahead of us but some excellent teamwork and operations by local officers on the Neighbourhood Crime Team and Neighbourhood Policing Team and the CID brought him to justice.”