A brazen career criminal who escaped from prison and went on a burglary spree while on the run has been jailed for six years.

Adam Yaroo, 28, absconded from a prison in Derbyshire in June and burgled homes in Tadworth and Kingswood over the summer. He stole jewellery worth £18,000 in one burglary alone.

Yaroo, who was recaptured after a massive manhunt, pleaded guilty to four burglaries and two attempted burglaries and was sentenced at Guildford Crown Court yesterday.

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He asked for 36 more crimes, committed across Surrey, London, Kent, Sussex, Derbyshire and Oxfordshire, to be taken into consideration by the court.

Yaroo escaped from HMP Sudbury on June 23 and police finally caught the wanted man on September 17 when he got out of a van in Clapham.

There was a rucksack, packed with a chisel, gloves and an emergency window breaking hammer, in the van.

A key clue in the case was his cigarette butt, with DNA on it, which was found outside a burgled home in Epsom South Lane where he stole jewellery worth £18,000 on July 3.

His DNA was also found on a screwdriver left behind a property in Outwood Lane, Kingswood, where he stole jewellery, watches and electrical goods on August 29.

Yaroo stole VW Beetle keys and cash from a home in the Hoppety, Tadworth, on July 11, but left the keys near another home which he tried to burgle later the same day.

Police discovered the keys during a search around the second property in Waterhouse Lane in Tadworth.

Yaroo also burgled a home in the Great Tattenhams, Burgh Heath, on August 29 and tried to burgle a home in Outwood Lane, Chipstead, on August 27.

Detective Constable Anna Patterson said: "Adam Yaroo was a brazen burglar who carried out his offences in broad daylight, taking expensive jewellery and electrical items.

"A huge amount of effort went into catching Yaroo who was wanted by numerous forces in the south east because of his offending.

“I hope today's sentence gives reassurance to the public that we take burglary extremely seriously in this county and will not rest until wanted criminals are brought to justice.

"Yaroo was a career criminal who planned his burglaries.

“When challenged by members of the public he attempted to fool them with a story about how he was trying to track down witnesses to a motorbike accident the day before.”