A delivery driver has been jailed for committing a series of attempted burglaries.
CCTV footage captured a man trying the front doors and peering in through the windows of vehicles at two properties in Station Road, Stanley.
A third incident was also captured on video in which a man is seen trying open the front door of a home in Shaftesbury Avenue, Sandiacre.
All of the offences took place within a coupler of hours of each other in the early hours of Wednesday 17 September.
Following intelligence, officers executed a search of the suspect’s home and noticed clothing that matched that of the man caught on CCTV.
Marek Pecha was arrested and during police interviews was about fingerprints found at the scene of one of the crimes.
He claimed that because he was a delivery driver this meant he needed to touch the door handles of numerous homes as part of his job.
Pecha also told officers his GPS used to send him to the wrong addresses all the time and so he needed to knock on people’s doors to ask for directions.
When asked why he shone a torch through the window of one of the vehicles, he claimed it was to see if anyone was inside to take the item he was attempting to deliver.
However, his cover story proved to be false as officers checked with the delivery company who confirmed he did not have any deliveries to make to those properties.
The 44-year-old, of Belgrave Street, Derby, pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted burglary with intent to steal.
He was jailed for one year in prison during a sentencing hearing at Chesterfield Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 2 December.
The case was dealt with by our Neighbourhood Acquisitive Crime Team.
Detective Sergeant Louise Munday said: “Any form of burglary or attempted burglary is a terrible offence that can make victims feel extremely vulnerable in that their private space has been invaded by a stranger intent on stealing from them.
“We take this type of crime very seriously here in Derbyshire, which is why we have a dedicated team working around the clock to bring burglars, robbers and thieves to justice.
“Pecha tried to evade justice by making out he was a delivery driver dropping off items at these addresses.
“But that was never going to wash with our officers as the evidence against him was overwhelming.
“We are pleased to see that he has been taken off our streets and I would like to thank our officers for their hard work in bringing him to justice and to pay tribute to the victims for their cooperation with this case.”
