Teenage Burglar Is Jailed For Five Years
Prolific thief carried out 15 burglares in Merton
A prolific burglar, who committed more than 30 burglaries across south London and Surrey - including 15 in Merton - has been jailed for five years.
Rahiem Mico Ssekkono, aged 19, of Upper Norwood, was sentenced to five years' imprisonment at Kingston Crown Court today (January 23), having previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary between 06 June, 2014 and 29 October, 2014 on Friday, 12 December, 2014.
Ssekkono (right) was arrested by Merton Burglary Squad on 29 October, 2014 following a break-in during the early hours at a residential property in Willis Avenue, Sutton.
His arrest came after he was targeted in a proactive police operation when detectives in Merton identified him as a possible suspect involved in a series of burglaries across the south London area.
Ssekkono was identified as a suspect, when he was almost apprehended by an officer near Worcester Park train station on 22 September, 2014. An officer on patrol spotted a man acting suspiciously, and when he approached him, the man ran off and discarded a top, which the officer recovered.
The same officer then saw a CCTV image of an unidentified person in relation to a burglary being investigated. He recognised the person in the CCTV image as being the same person that had run off from him. When DNA from the top was analysed, officers found it was Ssekkono's.
Following his arrest, police searched Ssekkono's home address, where they discovered several items stolen in burglaries, including smartphones, 'Kindle' e-readers, stolen house keys, chequebooks and bank cards. Officers also found various items of clothing, which matched the clothing worn by the suspect on various CCTV clips linked to some of the burglaries.
In total, detectives identified 33 burglaries as part of the series, including burglaries in Merton, Croydon, Sutton, Bromley and Surrey.
Ssekkono was charged on 31 October, 2014 with conspiracy to commit burglary between 06 June and 29 October, 2014 and subsequently pleaded guilty and was sentenced as above.
Detective Constable Matthew Griffiths, from Merton CID, who investigated the case said: "An extremely prolific burglar has been jailed as a result of some fantastic work by uniform officers, detectives and forensics officers. The 33 burglaries we identified as part of this series were all very similar and because of the sheer weight of evidence put forward, Ssekkono was left with little option than to plead guilty to the charges.
"The evidence from the uniform officer who recovered Ssekkono's top, through to the forensic and detective work to place Ssekkono at several of the scenes through phone and CCTV analysis all added up to an extremely strong case against him.
"Burglary has such a devastating impact on the victims and the judge described his actions as 'a violation of people's homes'. It is good news that such a prolific burglar will now be behind bars for a considerable time and I hope that this result brings some closure for his victims."
+ Breakdown of burglaries per borough/county:
Merton: 15
Croydon: Seven
Bromley: Three
Sutton: Three (including one attempted burglary)
Surrey: Five
January 23, 2015
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