A BURGLAR who targeted a number of homes and businesses in the Bournemouth area has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Colin Michael Jeffery, aged 41 and of no fixed abode, admitted offences of burglary and theft at Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday, July 27.

Jeffery also asked for five further burglary offences to be taken into consideration.

At around 12.30pm on Saturday, April 28, 2018, Jeffrey entered the Roses of Bournemouth store in Wimborne Road, Winton, and asked to see two high-value rings.

As members of staff showed him the rings, he snatched them from the counter and tried to run out of the store.

A member of staff tried to stop him and was able to retrieve the two rings.

Jeffrey got away from the scene but was later identified through the store’s CCTV footage.

Nine days later, a burglary occurred at a flat in Moore Avenue sometime between 11am and 5pm on Monday, May 7, 2018.

The occupier returned home to find the main door had been locked from the inside.

When he was eventually able to enter the flat, he found a number of items had been stolen and a plastic window frame had been damaged.

Jeffery was linked to the burglary through DNA evidence at the scene and was arrested in Bournemouth on Wednesday, May 23, 2018.

The five offences he asked to be taken into consideration at sentence all related to burglaries committed in the Bournemouth area between April 14 and May 18, 2018.

Detective Constable Andrew Burley, of Dorset Police’s Priority Crime Team, said: “Colin Jeffery targeted a number of homes as well as a business in the Bournemouth area and has now been brought to justice for his offending.

“We understand the significant impact these offences can have on victims and I hope this case demonstrates that Dorset Police will take action to identify and prosecute those responsible.”