POLICE have warned burglars operating in Dorset they will not give up on historical crimes until the person responsible is caught.

They say many burglary victims are left deeply traumatised and unsolved crimes are often reviewed using new forensic techniques in a bid to bring offenders to justice.

The warning comes days after burglar Daniel Mark Johnson, 37, from Bournemouth, appeared in court for a burglary he committed almost three years ago.

Johnson forced his way into a flat in Bournemouth in February 2009 during daylight but made off empty handed after he was confronted by the terrified owner.

He pleaded guilty at Bournemouth Crown Court and was handed a 48-week suspended prison sentence and ordered to comply with a 15 month supervision order.

DI Richard Dixey, of Dorset Police’s priority crime team which focuses on burglary, vehicle crime and other acquisitive crimes, said following the offence in 2009, Johnson was jailed for a number of other similar offences but had refused to admit he was responsible for this crime.

He said when offenders are in custody they are asked if they would like to admit their involvement in other crimes in a bid to “wipe the slate clean” and “start afresh”.

“As part of an ongoing review we were able to identify he was responsible for that crime, he was arrested and prosecuted and sentenced again – it did come back to haunt him.”

Speaking about the effects burglary has on victims, DI Dixey added: “Burglary is a priority crime, particularly in this case when someone is confronted in their own home and our message to the public is we never give up on cases like that.”

He said burglaries can have a great impact on victims who often feel their private life has been violated.

And he reminded burglars: “When we say you should tell us about your crimes or they will come back to haunt you, we are not lying and this recent conviction proves it.”

Thief brought to justice three years later

A WOMAN who confronted a burglar in her home while she was recovering from breast cancer has told of her satisfaction at seeing him brought to justice three years later.

The woman, who did not want to be named, was still drowsy from chemotherapy when she discovered Daniel Johnson in her living room.

“At the time I was undergoing chemo for breast cancer, which meant I was home,” she said.

“My mum basically moved in with me for the first three weeks. She had only been out of the flat a couple of minutes and the door went again. I was in bed, drowsy and half out of it.

“I thought it was my mum coming back. I didn’t hear her say anything so after a couple of minutes I went out to the kitchen and there was nobody there. I put my head around the lounge door and there he was, folding up the cable from my laptop.

“I must have frightened the living daylights out of him. I’m not only six foot tall and bald headed at the time but I was stood there in my T-shirt and a pair of pants.”

“I said ‘What are you doing?’ He said ‘Adrian said I could come and get it because he owes me money’. Adrian had been a previous tenant in the flat. Whether he picked on a name and was very lucky, I don’t know.”

Johnson insisted he did not have any other property on him and left the flat. After he was gone, she found her purse was missing and called the police. Fingerprints were found on the purse when it was recovered.

Crime scene evidence is routinely reviewed and the fingerprints led to Johnson’s conviction almost three years later.

“The police didn’t let it lie and I’m glad that that’s the case. People do think it’s only a few quid and the police have got better things to do – which indeed they have – but it’s nice to know they keep their eye on smaller things as well.

“I couldn’t fault them at all. For the first two or three weeks, I heard from them every day and then it went to once a week or once a fortnight for quite a while.”