Hyde park spree burglar who targeted more than forty homes jailed

He even broke into a house on Christmas Eve


Hyde Park’s prolific burglar who’s robbed more than 40 student homes in Leeds has finally been jailed.

Anthony Poll was jailed for two years and 11 months after pleading guilty to a number of offences involving more than £20,000 worth of stolen goods.

The majority of the raids were conducted during the Christmas holidays when students returned back to their parent’s homes.

The burglar was finally caught breaking into a house on Christmas Eve when a student unexpectedly returned back home.

Police then searched his own property in the Hyde Park area and found a number of the items he’d taken as part of his crime spree.

The offences all took place between October and December last year. It’s said that Poll committed the offences so he could pay back drug dealers he was in debt to.

During Poll’s court case it was revealed the student victims lost laptops, tablets and other electronic devices which continued valuable course work. Others lost personal photographs and important contact details during the thefts.

Paul Strafford the Detective Inspector of Leeds District Crime Team, said: “Poll is a prolific offender who’s crimes impacted on the lives of a number of people, some of whom lost not only their possessions but also important student course work, photographs and other valuable information.”