A COLCHESTER man has been handed a suspended sentence after admitting a crime spree.

Daniel Lusty, 21, of Roosevelt Way, admitted ten conspiracy to burgle charges in relation to a string of incidents in Chelmsford.

A second man Adam Holland, 26, of New Street, Chelmsford, admitted nine conspiracy to burgle offences.

The crime spree, which primarily took place over nine weeks in the summer of 2018, saw items and cash worth a four-figure sum stolen.

Hundreds of pounds of damage was caused to a range of independent businesses and corporations in the city.

The men were linked to all offences through a mixture of CCTV images, clothing evidence and DNA from their fingers and hands.

The ten offences included breaking into Decathlon and McDonald’s drive-thru on Riverside Retail Park.

Lusty was sentenced to two years in prison suspended for 18 months.

He has also been given a Criminal Behaviour Order which states he is not allowed to be in the company of Holland between 10pm and 6am and is not allowed to enter the Chelmer Village/Riverside Retail Park between 11pm and 7am.

He will also have to wear an electronic tag for three months and undertake 60 hours of unpaid work.

Holland was jailed for three years.

Det Con Harriet Ware, officer in charge of the case, from Chelmsford CID, said: “Conspiracy to commit burglary is a serious offence and this case saw impressive team work from the whole of Chelmsford CID a combination of other departments and force a analyst .

"It took many hours of commitment to to prove that Lusty and Holland planned their burglaries and, for the most part, worked alongside each other to commit them.

"This was a great result for my victims with many being small business's whereby the crimes affected them greatly. "

Det Insp Kelly Thurston, from Chelmsford CID, added: "This is another example of excellent work from a dedicated team of detectives who want to ensure that people committing serious offences within the Chelmsford area are bought to justice."