A violent jewel thief known as the Night Watcher has been linked to four more burglaries.
The raider is thought to have stolen more than £10 million worth of valuables from victims. Armed with a shotgun, they reportedly terrorised wealthy households.
For six years they have managed to evade police officers. Now it is thought the masked thief is behind 17 raids, reports The Mirror.
Detectives now believe the Night Watcher could be a former solider using military training to carry out the attacks and avoid detection. Police have now linked the burglary to four more raids, three in Kent and one in London, since 2019.
During the London incident, in 2021, police say two women were attacked in their home. The pair needed hospital treatment after the raid on the Keston Park estate in Bromley, South East London.
The three remaining offences – in the Tonbridge area of Kent – took place in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Working alone, officers say the robber selected isolated properties in isolated areas.
They are they said to have carried out night-time reconnaissance to analyse homeowners’ daily routines and security arrangements. The crimes began 2006 but it was not until 2017 that police linked them.
The Night Watcher has believed to have targeted homes across the South East, including in Berkshire and Surrey. Victims include the Duke and Duchess of Richmond, who were attacked in their stately home, Goodwood House, in Westhampnett, West Sussex, in 2016.
They were tied up and forced to hand over goods worth £700,000. In another break-in, the Night Watcher kicked a pregnant woman in the stomach.
Another woman, Susan Morris, was left fearing she was going to be raped and murdered. Susan, then 61, suffered a broken jaw and lost a tooth in 2017 when she was attacked in her Surrey home with a sawn-off shotgun.
A police spokesman said: “Kent Police is [investigating] a series of five burglaries between November 2016 and January 2022 where isolated properties have been targeted. It is reported that on each occasion a lone offender threatened victims in order to steal cash and high value possessions including jewellery and watches.
“Victims have been threatened with a firearm and restrained with cable ties and ropes. Inquiries have included extensive review of any CCTV, as well as a full forensic review of each burglary. Officers are also continuing to work closely with other police forces, where similar burglaries have taken place.”
Officers have previously released a CCTV image from an incident in Maidenhead, Berkshire. The Night Watcher most recently struck almost two years ago, meaning this would be the longest period he has gone without offending since his second known burglary in 2009.
