A man has been jailed for a total of four years for committing a string of burglaries at student houses in Bournemouth.
Paul Oluyemi, 26 and of Bournemouth, was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court on Wednesday 30 March 2016, after pleading guilty at the same court on 3 March to seven burglaries and 11 offences of handling stolen goods.
The court heard that Oluyemi committed the burglaries between May 2014 and October 2015 in the Winton and Charminster areas.
An enquiry was launched into these offences under the title of Operation Navigator, which was one the of the longest student crime series investigations carried out by Dorset Police in recent years.
The former Arts University Bournemouth student targeted the properties in term time between 10pm and 2am on Friday and Saturday evenings when students were out in the town. He also committed offences on the nights of the annual Student Ball.
He stole laptops, MacBooks, iPads and cameras.
The court heard that Oluyemi’s offending was brought to a halt when one of his victim’s discovered that his stolen laptop was being sold on Ebay. Officers traced the laptop back to Oluyemi and his car was seen near to the scene of the burglary.
Oluyemi was arrested and was found to be using a stolen MacBook and had other stolen items with him. Other stolen goods were also found in his car and at his home address.
Following his arrest, officers forensically linked Oluyemi to a number of burglary scenes.
Detective Constable Chris Raspini, of Dorset Police’s Priority Crime Team, said: “Paul Oluyemi systematically targeted student accommodation in the Winton and Charminster areas. This was one of the longest burglary crime series we have investigated in recent years. Following Oluyemi’s arrest, student burglary offences have reduced in the Bournemouth area.
“I hope the sentence handed out today reassures the public that we will continue to investigate such offences and target those individuals responsible.
“We want students to be safe, so we’re trying to change their mind set and get them into the habit of locking up, whether they are in their property or not as part of Dorset Police’s Who’s Locked Up? campaign.
“People are encouraged to property mark their valuables, by using a UV pen and install tracking software and firmware on their tablets and mobile phones.
“We aim to detect and deter these offences, but students can prevent themselves falling foul to opportunist thieves by taking the first basic step and simply lock up the house before leaving it.
“An open door or window is unwittingly an open invitation to criminals.”
All residents are urged to follow three simple steps to avoid becoming a burglary victim. They are: lock up, shut windows and doors and property mark items.
For more advice, visit the Dorset Police Crime Prevention Portal – http://www.dorset.police.uk/default.aspx?page=5999.
This post was edited on 31 March 2016 to make it clear that Paul Oluyemi was a former Arts University Bournemouth student.
