A serial burglar was caught after breaking into a flat while he was wearing an electronic anti-crime tag that recorded his movements.
Richard Almaraoui, 33, stole a student’s laptop in the raid, Norwich Crown Court heard yesterday before he was jailed.
Robert Warner, prosecuting, said police managed to recover the mini-computer from the repeat offender’s home.
Mr Warner said police then had no trouble tracking down Almaraoui after his tag, which records all his movements, showed he had raided the victim’s flat in Norwich.
Almaraoui, of Dereham, Norfolk, admitted the burglary and asked for five similar offences to be considered.
He also breached a suspended jail sentence.
Jailing him for five years, Judge Stephen Holt warned Alamaraoui that if he continued to offend his sentences would get longer.
Judge Holt added: ‘You continually break in to people’s homes, causing a large amount of distress and fear.’
He accepted Almaraoui had a difficult background and drug problems, but said: ‘The only person that can stop you taking drugs is you.’
Michael Clare, defending, said he had stopped taking drugs while on remand and wanted to make a fresh start.
Electronic monitoring of offenders, which includes ankle tags and satellite technology, is provided by companies G4S and Serco.
G4S, which monitors around 14,000 offenders in the UK, states on its website: ‘Satellite tracking effectively limits an offender’s freedom whilst not employing a full time custodial sanction.
‘Subjects wear an electronic ankle tag, which communicates using radio frequency to a tracking device usually worn around the waist. A G4S Control Centre tracks the electronic monitor and records the location of the offender to within a few metres using satellite GPS technology backed up by mobile telephone technology.
‘Subjects are also given a Home Extension Unit which is located normally at the subject’s home, and is the size of a small radio. This unit allows the subject to move freely around at home. The subject’s position is shown as location trails on a computer screen map.’
Almaraoui, 33, stole a student’s laptop in the raid, Norwich Crown Court heard yesterday
Electronic tags enable police to map the movements of offenders against reported crimes, or plot their location in real-time when responding to 999 calls to see if they were at the scene
