This is the bizarre moment a prolific burglar was caught on camera wearing one sock and a Nike slider, before making off on a stolen mountain bike during an overnight thieving spree.
Sean Maher, 38, targeted nine different homes and a car in Bretton, Cambridgeshire, between Saturday, August 12 and Sunday August 13 last year.
He was unsuccessful in gaining access to seven of the properties after finding their doors were locked — and only made it so far as just inside of the front door of one home, before hearing the owners and running off.
Ring doorbell footage shows Maher approaching the homes and trying the door handles before darting away.
Maher tried the door of a home in nearby Greenham which was unlocked and the occupant woke the following morning to find the house had been ransacked.
He had left lights switched on, drawers pulled open and both front and back doors to the house had been left wide open.
He’d made off wearing one sock and one Nike slider and riding a mountain bike he stole from the home, along with keys, medication, a video doorbell and vape liquids.
Five incidents were reported to police but following a public appeal for information, a further four victims came forward after checking video doorbell footage and CCTV systems.
After reviewing the footage, the Acquisitive Crime Team officers identified Maher and arrested him in Spalding, Cambridgeshire on August 16.
Maher appeared at Cambridge Crown Court on Tuesday, May 28, where he was sentenced to three years in prison.
He had admitted seven counts of attempted burglary, two counts of burglary and one count of vehicle interference.
Detective Sergeant Rich Ellison, from the Acquisitive Crime Team, said: ‘Maher is a prolific offender with 24 previous convictions for burglaries, thefts and other similar offences dating as far back as 1999.
‘He went house-to-house through Bretton one night trying to burgle people’s homes, and unfortunately was successful in two of his attempts.
‘This was captured on video doorbell cameras and CCTV from multiple addresses, which proved key in our investigation to identify and ultimately convict Maher.’