Two burglars who spent 15 years following antiques dealers home from country fairs to raid £300,000 of jewellery are finally caught after going to the toilet outside one victim’s home
- Alan Skavydis and Paul Stephenson struck in 13 different police force areas
- Picked victims at London, Cardiff, Carlisle, Essex, Hampshire and Surrey shows
- They then followed the dealers home and looted their valuable possessions
- Each have been jailed for six-and-a-half years at Cardiff Crown Court today
Paul Stephenson (pictured) from Dagenham was jailed for six-and-a-half years today for stealing jewellery from wealthy dealers
Two burglars who tracked antique dealers for to steal their jewellery over 15 years have finally been caught because they used a victim’s toilet.
The pair followed wealthy dealers hundreds of miles from fairs to their homes to steal more than £300,000 of valuables.
Alan Skavydis, 56, and Paul Stephenson, 58, would watch traders at historic houses and plush hotels across the country to see what they were selling.
They have been ordered to pay back more than £160,000 of their illegal sales after soiled toilet paper at a Hampshire home was found to contain both of their DNA.
Their crimes took place in 13 different police force areas and cost victims combined losses of more than £300,000.
Police solved the case after analysing the soiled toilet paper left behind for DNA to trap the pair.
Prosecutor Michael Hammett said: ‘These men have committed a series of planned, professional burglaries across the United Kingdom, deliberately targeting traders of antique jewellery.
‘The victims were identified at antique fayres and then followed significant distances back to their home addresses, where burglaries took place some days later.’
One victim, jewellery trader Antonietta Robinson, had gems and family heirlooms had been raided from her home in Worthing, West Sussex.
Cardiff Crown Court ordered £139,00 compensation be paid to Mrs Robinson with other compensation to other victims.
The pair attended fairs including London, Cardiff, Carlisle, Essex, Hampshire and Surrey to locate their victims.
They were arrested after police managed to link DNA found from many of crime scenes.
Mr Hammett said: ‘Police later located a quantity of soiled toilet paper in the garden. This yielded DNA hits on both defendants.’
Alan Skavydis (pictured) from Romford also went down for six-and-a-half years for his part in the burglaries
Officers then used number plate recognition technology and CCTV to identify Skavydis and Stephenson.
Cardiff Crown Court heard their victims valued losses at hundreds of thousands of pounds – but the two men said the value was much less.
Skavydis, of Romford, East London, and Stephenson, of Dagenham, East London, admitted eight burglaries between 2001 and 2016.
They were each jailed for six-and-a-half years by Judge Jeremy Jenkins.
Speaking after the sentence Millie Davies of the CPS said: ‘These men were calculated and professional in the way they chose their victims, sometimes following them across the UK.
‘The prosecution showed evidence which proved that for many years Skavydis and Stephenson had been plotting to steal valuable antiques from collectors and their actions were linked to several burglaries.
‘ANPR evidence played an important part in the case presented by the CPS to identify how the defendants had followed their victims home and gave them little choice but to enter guilty pleas.’