An eighth man has been jailed in connection with a spate of burglaries worth nearly £420,000.

Darren Lee Wilkinson, 36, appeared before Southampton Crown Court on Tuesday for his part in a series of burglaries across Dorset, Hampshire, Surrey,  Avon & Somerset, Sussex and Wiltshire.

He was found guilty on May 9 after a five-day trial.

The court heard that the group would travel in convoys often using private hire vehicles or stolen vehicles on cloned plates to drive to various locations within Hampshire and nearby counties.

The large-scale conspiracy – which targeted businesses with high-value stock such as supermarkets, bicycle stores, mobile phone stores and clothing stores – took place between October 2020 and December 2020.

Three burglaries were committed in Dorset and 16 in Hampshire, including Tesco Express and Co-op stores in Southampton and Eastleigh.

The overall value of goods stolen and loss to businesses in terms of damage caused totalled nearly £420,000.

Four men were sentenced at the same court on August 2, while three others were sentenced on June 27.

For the burglaries, Wilkinson, of Warburton Road, Southampton was sentenced to three years and nine months.

However, he was also handed two further jail sentences of 12 months and nine months, to run consecutively.

The first relates to a series of offences which saw him take stolen vehicles to a scrap yard to be crushed while the second is in connection with an aggravated vehicle taking and disqualified driving offence dating back to March 24, 2022.

That day, Wilkinson was stopped on Wide Lane, Eastleigh, in a stolen Mercedes A-Class after failing to stop for officers and driving dangerously to avoid them.

Altogether he was jailed for five years and six months.

Detective Constable Paul Beasley, who led the investigation, said: “This further ruling has bought justice to residents and business owners in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

“We conducted a thorough and robust investigation – and today’s result is down to the sheer dedication of my officers, but also the efforts of our investigative counterparts.

“This is a great example of Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary’s priority to drive a focus on excellent local policing and ensuring that victims are put first and prioritised throughout our investigations.”