A heroin addict with an astonishing pnds stlng 1,0

A heroin addict with an astonishing pnds stlng 1,000 a week
habit carried out so many burglaries in one small area a special
police operation was set up to catch him.

And when officers finally captured their man fleeing from
his 48th raid he told them he was relieved it was all over, Inner
London Crown Court was told.

In a four months reign Jason Langiert, 26, escaped with over
pnds stlng 36,000 worth of valuables from homes in the Wickham
Lane area of Plumstead.

So prolific was Langiert that worried police decided
extraordinary methods were needed to catch those behind the raids.

As a result detectives ‘mounted a surveillance operation over
a number of days.

It involved numerous officers waiting throughout
the hours of darkness,’ said prosecutor Mr Ian Darling.

Their painstaking efforts paid off.

In the early hours of September 25 Langiert was sighted in
his car in the vicinity.

He was seen to climbing over the wall
of the local cemetery and disappearing into the darkness.

A little while later he was seen emerging over the far side
wall before vanishing into the back gardens of houses in Alliance
Road.

‘The officers covered all escape routes and waited and
watched,’ said counsel.

At about 5.

30 a.

m.

a burglar alarm was triggered, quickly
followed by shouts from a man saying: ‘Get out you bastard.

‘
Moments later Langiert was seen climbing over the cemetery
wall – his escape route.

Officers moved in and after a short
chase Langiert was captured.

‘Okay, you have caught me now,’ he said.

He then revealed that a jar of money stolen that very
night was hidden behind the wall.

Other property – cheque books, credit cards, cash and other
items – stolen in his first raid of the evening was found when
he was searched.

‘Over the course of the next three days he was interviewed
at length.

He explained at the outset that he was a heroin addict
and had been taking the drug for nine years.

‘He was using it to the extent of pnds stlng 150 per day or
pnd stlng per week,’ said Mr Darling.

‘Unemployed on pnds stlng 42 per week benefit he had to
find pnds stlng 1,000 per week to finance his drug habit and
effectively that was at the heart of each and every offence he was
to tell the officers about.

‘
Langiert, a former double glazing fitter, of Westgate Court
Burnt Ash Hill, Lee, used his knowledge of that work to quickly,
simply and silently remove windows in order to gain access.

He then used the cover of the cemetery to slip away into
the night.

All of the homes he broke into backed on to open land,
the court had heard.

On the night he was captured he had successfully raided one
house in Alliance Road before triggering the burglar alarm at
the second address.

Langiert explained how he would target one street, often
raiding two or three houses in the same night.

‘Every single item of money or converted money had gone to
pay for his drug habit,’ said Mr Darling.

At the end of his interview Langiert told detectives: ‘I
am sorry, I had to do this and I am glad it’s all over.

‘
Mr Christopher Mitchell, defending, had urged the court
to consider allowing Langiert to be assessed by Phoenix House
drug rehabilitation centre.

‘He is a man in need of help,’ counsel said.

‘From the start he made a complete confession and assisted
the police in cleaning up a very large number of burglaries.

Were
it not for that the police would have a large number of unsolved
burglaries on their books.

‘It takes courage for a man to come along and plead guilty
to so many offences which reinforce the picture of a professional
burglar,’ added Mr Mitchell.

But jailing Langiert for three years, Judge Jeremy Fordham
said he had to impose a custodial sentence.

‘I have to look at the whole picture which includes the
sheer scale of what you were doing – the thousands and thousands
of pounds worth of property you stole and worse, the misery you
caused.

‘I take very much into account you pleaded guilty
otherwise the sentence would be very many, many years indeed.

‘
Langiert pleaded guilth to four charges of burglary and
asked for 44 similar offences to be taken into consideration.

All the burglaries took place between June 6 and
September 24, this year.

ENDS