Prolific burglar sentenced for two-county crime spree

A 43-year-old man has been jailed for two years and three months after he pleaded guilty to a crime spree across Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire.

On the night of June 4, 2024, John Alan Simonds, previously of Wellingborough, broke into a car garage in Alma Street, Wellingborough, and once inside, stole 15 sets of car keys from a cabinet and subsequently a Citroen Picasso and Audi A5 from the forecourt.

Then, sometime overnight between June 9 and 10, Simonds drove the Citroen to the Cambridgeshire area and used it to help him commit burglary offences and a vehicle crime. 

On his way back to Northamptonshire, the Citroen he was driving was spotted by police officers and later found abandoned in Trent Crescent, Burton Latimer.

An investigation was launched, and officers used the area’s CCTV to identify the driver and track him walking away from the car and into a nearby taxi.

Footage from inside the taxi showed Simonds as the man who had got inside and requested the driver take him to his home address in Minerva Way, Wellingborough.

A forensic examination of the Citroen was undertaken, and  Simonds’ fingerprint was recovered on a CD case inside the vehicle. Items from within were also seized, including bunches of car keys, nail bar equipment and clothing.

Simonds was arrested and subsequently charged with two offences of Burglary, two offences of attempted Burglary and one offence of theft from a motor vehicle.

On July 17, he pleaded guilty to the offences, also asking for a further burglary, in which he stole a Renault Clio from another a car garage in Wellingborough, to be taken into consideration.

He was sentenced at the same court this month (August 9) to two years and three months in prison. 

Lead investigator – DS Kev Macdonald from Northamptonshire Police’s Burglary Team North said: “John Simonds is a prolific burglar and our team, especially Police Staff Investigator - Martin Green, worked really hard, alongside colleagues at Cambridgeshire Police, to ensure he was convicted and sent to prison.

“Commercial burglaries such as the ones in Wellingborough cause business owners a lot of stress and threaten people’s livelihoods. That’s why we take them so seriously and why we will always seek a prosecution.

“The Burglary Team are passionate about putting as many burglars as we can behind bars and making our county safer and we will continue working hard to bring more people like John Simonds to justice.”