A burglar who conspired to steal high-value cars in St Neots was caught after his DNA was found on a lip balm left in one of the stolen motors.

Sheridan Fayomi, 27, was found guilty following a trial and was jailed at Harrow Crown Court on Thursday.

In the early hours of May 31 last year, a Mercedes worth £20,000 was stolen from Curlew Place and a Mercedes A220, worth £32,000, from nearby Heron Court. Later that day the Mercedes A220 was found abandoned in Barnet.

A mobile phone and camera equipment worth £10,000 were also stolen from the property in Curlew Place.

Then, at about 3.40am on June 14 last year, an Audi S3, worth £45,000, and a handbag containing bank cards were stolen from a different property in Heron Court. The cards were used to complete three transactions in the Barnet area worth a total of £88.55.

When officers discovered the Audi abandoned in Barnet five days later they found the stick of lip balm which forensic tests linked to Fayomi.

When he was arrested by the Metropolitan Police two months later a mobile phone was seized. Information from this linked him to the scenes of the burglaries.

Fayomi, who is from North London, was sentenced to five years and six months in prison.

Detective Constable James Howard said: “Fayomi is a career criminal and targeted high value vehicles to further fund his lifestyle.

“He targeted hard working, successful people and had no regard for the devastating impact burglary has on its victims.

“This was a challenging investigation. I am particularly grateful to the support and hard work of my team and also the Metropolitan Police. I hope the sentence handed to Fayomi serves as a reminder that we will work tirelessly to bring burglars who target our county to justice.”