Cigarette butt in stolen car puts burglar behind bars
Anthony Bailey, 37, was jailed for more than three years after a burglary spree. - Credit: Cambs Police
A single cigarette butt found in a car stolen from a house in Fenstanton was enough to put a burglar behind bars for more than three years.
Anthony Bailey, 37, began a crime spree on June 20 last year when he broke into a security box at a car repair garage in Lewes, Sussex.
He took the keys for a Skoda Citigo and drove off but crashed the car the next day in Essex, then left the scene before officers arrived.
On August 14 he broke into a house in Fenstanton, taking a Ford Kuga and two bank cards.
The Kuga was found abandoned a few streets away and one of the bank cards was used at a local filling station.
A cigarette butt was found in the footwell of the car and forensic analysis proved it had belonged to Bailey.
He was then linked to the theft of the Skoda after the same DNA was found on the air bag of the crashed vehicle.
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Bailey, of Blackwell Avenue, Ilkeston, was arrested on December 10 in Nottingham and later pleaded guilty to burglary, two counts of theft, aggravated vehicle taking, fraud by false representation, and driving while disqualified and without insurance.
He was sentenced at Peterborough Crown Court on Wednesday (January 19) to three years and eight months in prison.
PC Andy Smith said: “This case highlights the importance of forensics and our scenes of crime officers.
“Bailey probably thought he had got away with these crimes but he was linked to the crime by the cigarette butt and thankfully has now been brought to justice.”
