A man from London was handed a two-year custodial sentence at Inner London Crown Court on November 16 after pleading guilty to five counts of bicycle theft, five counts of commercial burglary and one count of theft from a motor vehicle.
Francis Graham, 26 of Hunter Street, committed two bicycle thefts in Richmond in December 2019.
One of the counts of commercial burglary took place at the Queenshurst Square apartment complex in Kingston town centre in November.
During the sentencing, His Honour Judge Davies said: “You were a one-man crime wave stealing in a sophisticated way.
“You tailgated residents into areas to which you didn’t have access, removing decent locks and taking bicycles.”
The Metropolitan Police said, when he was first arrested and interviewed, Graham was shown a CCTV image of man stealing a bicycle.
He initially denied it was him, but when presented with additional CCTV and DNA evidence spanning a variety of incidents, he admitted the offences.
Chief Superintendent Steve Heatley, of the City of London Police, said: “This was a good result, and thanks to our keen-eyed officers who spotted Graham in the act, he has been brought to justice for his numerous offences.”
The Metropolitan Police said that with increasing numbers of commuters now cycling to work, the prevention of bike theft has become even more important to London law enforcement.
Heatley said: “Our force takes cycle theft very seriously, and we won’t tolerate it in the City.”
