A MAN who pleaded guilty to stealing more than �25,000-worth of jewellery in a string of burglaries across Huntingdonshire has been sentenced to five years in prison. Darren Scott Carter, 35, of The Beville, Woodwalton, along with another, unnamed person,

A MAN who pleaded guilty to stealing more than �25,000-worth of jewellery in a string of burglaries across Huntingdonshire has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Darren Scott Carter, 35, of The Beville, Woodwalton, along with another, unnamed person, broke into three properties in less than a fortnight in May of this year.

He was sentenced at Peterborough Crown Court on Friday (October 9), receiving two sentences of two years and one of one year, to run consecutively.

In the first burglary, in Alconbury sometime between May 16 and 28, while the home owner was on holiday, Carter and his accomplice stole jewellery valued at �22,275.

Then, in Little Paxton on May 19, they broke into a property and stole �2,620-worth of jewellery.

On May 28, the pair broke into a property in Great Paxton and stole a laptop computer, an iPod, and �520-worth of jewellery.

None of the stolen property has been recovered.

Carter pleaded guilty to all three charges when he appeared at Huntingdon Magistrates' Court in June.

He asked the magistrates to take a further 21 offences into account.

Prosecutor Laura Mardell told the court that windows were forced open or smashed to gain access to the properties and in one case, a panel from a UPVC door was removed.

Miss Mardell said all the items stolen were of high value, including a sapphire engagement ring worth more than �1,500.