Man sentenced to three years in prison for burglary and theft offences

A man has been sentenced to three years in prison for burglary and theft offences that took place in the Bury St Edmunds area.

Matthew Eke, 47, and previously of Thetford, appeared today, Friday 16 August, at Ipswich Crown Court having pleaded guilty to 11 offences that took place between 7 June and 1 July of this year.

The charges included four counts of dwelling burglary, an attempted dwelling burglary and a dwelling burglary with intent to steal. He was also charged with fraud by false representation, two counts of bicycle theft and two counts of theft from a shop.

He was arrested in Bury St Edmunds on 1 July after being identified via CCTV and forensic evidence and subsequently charged.

While remanded in custody, Eke was jointly investigated further by the Operation Converter Units from both Norfolk and Suffolk Police and after lengthy interviews he admitted to a further 19 other offences which he wished to have taken into consideration upon his sentencing.

These included seven dwelling burglaries, three commercial burglaries, three thefts from dwelling, one theft from a person and five thefts from shops across the Thetford and the Bury St Edmunds areas. The offences took place between May and July of this year, with the value of stolen goods totalling £2,112.

Police Staff Supervisor Duncan Etchells welcomed the sentence passed down today and said: “This offender was initially investigated by both uniform and CID staff from Bury St Edmunds and without their diligence and hard work he would not have been charged and remanded for the 11 offences.

“Both of the Op Converter Units then put Eke under investigation and were able to link him to more offences across the Bury and Thetford areas.

“He then admitted to these other offences, wanting to put his criminality behind him.

“His offending has had major impact on his many victims and he has been forced to address this impact during our time with him, with a view to ending his cycle of offending. I hope he can now reflect on his actions and receive any help he needs to stop his offending.”

Operation Converter is an initiative aimed at encouraging offenders to admit their crimes. This has benefits for all – police are able to give victims some peace of mind that an offender has been caught for the burglary of their home or the theft of their property and the individual has the opportunity to clear their slate, so they can have a fresh start when they are released from prison, without the possibility they will later be traced for a further offence.