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A police team that has seen dangerous offenders it caught across Kent jailed for more than 60 years has won praise for its success.
Among those in jail are a man who broke into the same pensioner’s Wateringbury home on four different occasions and used stolen bank cards to make 11 fraudulent transactions. He was jailed in May for three years.
A mugger who robbed a woman in her 60s at knifepoint as she walked in Lydd High Street was jailed for six years.
Three men who broke into three caravans at a site in Detling near Maidstone and threatened the occupants with a machete and an axe were jailed for more than 25 years between them.
While two men who posed as police officers to get into a Gravesend home before threatened the female occupant with a knife and demanding money were jailed for 12 years between them. They had also entered a different home in the same town and robbed a man of cash.
In total 14 offenders caught by the Chief Constable’s Crime Squad – a team of uniformed officers and detectives who primarily investigate burglary and robbery offences - appeared in court in May and were jailed for a total of 63 years and eight months.
Detective Inspector Darren Reynolds, who leads the team, said: "Securing more than 60 years in prison sentences in the space of a month is a testament to the outstanding work our officers carry out on a daily basis.
"The offenders we’ve locked up have shown exceptional levels of callousness and often see a person’s vulnerability as a motive to commit an offence.
"‘We will never allow such offending to go unchallenged and will do everything in our power to support victims and pursue justice.
"I’m glad to see that our expertise has helped us hold these criminals to account.’
In addition to the completed cases, the team made another six arrests resulting in 21 charges that are still going through the courts.
They include two Medway men who are alleged to have inflicted serious injuries on a man and a woman during an aggravated burglary in Dartford.
They are due to appear at Maidstone Crown Court later this month.
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