Fishing thief jailed after tag gives away location

A man who stole £10,000 of fishing equipment has been jailed after a GPS tag he was wearing told police where he was.

The tag worn by David Keenan, 38, showed he was near the location of a shed burglary in Saffron Walden, Essex last August.

He had been serving a suspended sentence after a string of previous burglaries in the town, Essex Police said.

Keenan, of Gacres Acre, Newport, admitted burglary and breaching a suspended sentence, and was imprisoned for 16 months at Chelmsford Crown Court.

As well as the GPS tag, he was also captured on CCTV carrying the stolen fishing gear.

Keenan was arrested on 20 September at his home address, where officers found the T-shirt he had been wearing that day.

PC Ryan McNamara, who fitted the defendant with the monitoring tag, said it proved the devices were an important tool in the police's armoury.

"Keenan was not deterred from committing further offences and we were able to swiftly apprehend him," he said.

"This theft understandably caused distress and the loss of valuable equipment to the owner.

"He's now been given an immediate prison sentence to reflect the severity of his actions."

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