A prolific criminal has been jailed after he burgled the home and stole the car of a couple who had only moved in four days earlier.

Matthew Murtagh, 27, of Roffey Close in Purley, targeted the couple’s new home in Hyde Road, South Croydon, in the middle of the day on March 15.

He forced his way into the house by smashing a rear window and stole a large quantity of jewellery and the keys to their Audi for a combined total value of £30,000.

When police arrived on the scene, one of the pieces of broken glass was sent for testing and Murtagh’s DNA was on it.

Murtagh, who pleaded guilty to burglary and theft, had a long history of convictions, with 25 offences going back as far as a conviction for theft in 2006.

When he committed the latest offences he was already on a suspended sentence for burglary in 2014.

Murtagh was sentenced at Croydon Crown Court to 20 months on top of the additional 10 months he must serve after breaching his suspended sentence order.

Judge Peter Gower said: “You need to understand that people whose homes are broken into suffer not only the financial loss, but also knowing that someone else has broken in their home and put their grubby mitts all over their belongings.”

Liam Loughlin, representing the defendant, said that Murtagh was suffering from gambling, drinking and drug-related problems which led him to repeatedly offend.