A ROMANIAN man who joined a gang thought to have been responsible for as many as 12 burglaries in Clevedon has been sent to jail.

Daniel-Constantin Tudor appeared at Warwick Crown Court on June 1 when he pleaded guilty to four charges of burglary, two of which related to break-ins in Clevedon.

The 22-year-old, who came to the UK in January, admitted being involved in burglaries at houses in Shelley Avenue and Conygar Close that same month.

During the first incident, Tudor and an accomplice tried to enter a house in Shelley Avenue, which was occupied by a 75-year-old woman, before fleeing after a neighbour disturbed them.

They moved on to Conygar Close, where they broke-into a property and stole a gold watch, camera and other items.

After this, the team switched their attention to properties in Worcestershire and Stratford-upon-Avon, where they carried out more burglaries over a two-week period.

In each offence, police were able to identify Tudor’s involvement due to blood or fingerprints he left at the scene. These were cross referenced with fingerprints and DNA taken after he was caught shoplifting not long after entering the country.

After his arrest, Tudor, who was living in Handsworth, Birmingham, at the time, was questioned about a total of 12 burglaries in the Clevedon area, all of which had the same hallmarks. However, six of them had taken place before he arrived in the UK and joined the gang.

On Friday, Tudor pleaded guilty to four burglaries and asked for another to be taken into account. He was sentenced to 40 months in prison.

Judge Richard Griffith-Jones told Tudor through a Romanian interpreter: “You came to this country on January 28 and the first burglaries in your campaign were within a couple of days.

“I draw the inference you came to this country to take part in that campaign of burglary and that is something the Home Office ought to take into account when deciding what to do with you after you have served your sentence.”