A PROLIFIC burglar has been locked up for three years after stealing £2,000 of jewellery and cash from a woman’s house.

Paul Freeman, 28, raided a house in Hobhouse Road, Stanford-le-Hope, during the fifth burglary he has been convicted for by the courts over the past decade.

A passer-by discovered some of the stolen jewellery nearby and handed them into police, so the owner got some of her possessions back.

Freeman’s fingerprints were found on some of the items and, because he had been jailed for burglaries before, cops matched them to him and arrested him.

Freeman, of no fixed address but formerly of Beckenham, Kent, pleaded guilty to burglary at Basildon Crown Court last Friday. The court heard he had previously burgled houses in Guildford, Canterbury, Croydon and Woolwich and spent several years in prison.

Freeman, who grew up on an East London council estate, was released following a 29-month prison sentence last year and found himself homeless after splitting with his girlfriend.

He was suffering from depression and burgled the house because he needed money, the court was told.

Judge Christopher Mitchell, sentencing, said: “The significance of what you stole is not just in value, but it’s also an emotional strain upon the owners of such property – especially when items such as jewellery are taken.

“Let it be clearly understood, dwelling house burglary is a serious offence and this is the fifth time in ten years you’ve come before a court for it, which is an aggravating factor.”