Man sentenced for Suffolk burglaries

A man has been sentenced for three years and four months in jail in relation to a series of burglaries across Essex and Suffolk. Reece Huggins, aged 24 and of no fixed abode was sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday 29 April after he pleaded guilty to 14 offences. While the vast majority of the offences took place in Essex, one of the charged offences was for a beauty salon in Sudbury on 17 February earlier this year. Huggins chose to engage with the Operation Converter team in Suffolk and he was investigated further and he consequently went to admit five other burglaries in Suffolk - two burglaries in Long Melford at some point between 28 January and 1 March, two in Clare between 1 March and 2 March and one in Haverhill on 20 February this year. In these cases, £720 worth of goods were taken and £2766 worth of damage caused. DC Barry Simpson from the Op Converter team said: “Once we engaged with Huggins and explained the ‘taken into consideration’ process, he then expressed a desire for a ‘clean slate’. This is a good example of cross border working with our colleagues and how we can secure positive outcomes for the victims of crime. It is also a salient reminder of how criminals operate - they do not recognise county borders and are just always on the look-out to exploit opportunities presented to them for their own greed and benefit.” Investigating officer for the case in Essex PC Carly Mond thanked the Suffolk officers who were involved in the Huggins case. She said: “Their quick responses to correspondence regarding evidence that was required for this cross border case made this partnership working effortless.  I would also like to thank the Colchester Town team and the Community Policing Teams in Braintree and Tendring that helped to ensure Huggins was arrested and dealt with in custody. Braintree Community Policing Team officers were also a credit to their team with great communication to help get the file completed in time.”