A MAN has been jailed for seven years and eight months after pleading guilty to a string of burglaries across the south west region.

Shane Philip Jarvis, 50, of no fixed address, was sentenced at Swindon Crown Court yesterday

Between December 2019 and February 2020, Jarvis committed multiple burglaries – mainly targeting elderly vulnerable residents with the eldest victim aged 96.

Jarvis would call at addresses and gain entry by claiming to be from the water board or the electricity company – once inside the addresses he would steal purses from victims and before leaving he would ask for their phone number. Once outside the address, he would call them and claim to be a police officer or from their bank and obtain their PIN number so he could withdraw cash from their accounts.

The offences began in Swindon on December 17, and he was arrested by the Wiltshire Community Tasking Team in Bristol on February 6.

In total, officers were able to link Jarvis to two offences in Salisbury, two in Swindon, three in Warminster, two in Westbury, two in Gloucestershire, two in Plymouth and two in Avon & Somerset.

Det Con Mark Welch said: “This was a complex investigation to link Jarvis to each crime scene. In total, Jarvis pleaded guilty to 11 burglaries and a further four were taken into consideration by the judge on sentencing.

“Jarvis has a long history of targeting elderly victims and has previously been sentenced for multiple burglaries.

“Between December and February, Jarvis would drive around the region targeting those he believed lived alone and were vulnerable. He would arrive at addresses wearing a hi-vis jacket so he looked the part and he came across to his victims as genuine.

“He did not care about the impact of his actions on his victims – his behaviour was appalling and I know many of his victims have struggled to come to terms with what he has done. They feel vulnerable in their own homes and reluctant to answer the door – some have said they cannot sleep since Jarvis broke in to their homes – this is completely unacceptable. Nobody should be made to feel this way in their own home and I am pleased that we were able to locate and arrest Jarvis before he could target any more victims. I’m pleased with the custodial sentence he has been given.”