A NOTORIOUS Hampshire burglar is again behind bars after evidence collected from his ankle monitor proved he committed a series of crimes just hours after being released from prison.

Stuart Campbell, a 42-year-old professional burglar, from Havant, pleaded guilty at Portsmouth Crown Court to five burglaries in Waterlooville, which he committed hours after voluntarily having a GPS tracker fitted to his leg following his release from HMP Winchester on June 21.

The device was fitted on June 23 at 11am and despite Campbell failing to charge it as instructed the device was operational until June 24.

Following the sentence, James Kellam, crown advocate for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Wessex said: “Stuart Campbell is a prolific burglar with an appalling criminal history, having been before the courts 31 times for a total of 179 offences between 1987 and 2014.

“The night after the tracker was fitted, Campbell committed five burglaries in a residential area of Waterlooville stealing mainly contents of handbags, keys, credit cards and cash. He then got rid of the tracker by cutting it off.

“When analysing the data from the tracker the Integrated Offender Management Unit was able to trace Campbell’s movement before he discarded the device. The data placed him at the scene of each and every burglary with which he was charged.

“Faced with the compelling evidence provided to us by Hampshire Constabulary, he was left with no choice but to plead guilty.

“ This case, which we believe is the first in which data from a GPS tracker has been used to secure a conviction, demonstrates how advancing technologies help us build stronger cases to put before the court.”

Campbell was sentenced to eight years in prison.

His last conviction was in 2014 for three offences of burglary, for which he was imprisoned for six years.