A ”one-man crimewave” has admitted carrying out nearly 500 burglaries – at a rate of almost one every week for TEN YEARS.
Darren Schoning, 32, was already serving a six-year prison sentence for committing 311 burglaries when he confessed to a further 126 from behind bars.
But the repentant thief has now added a further 46 offences to his list of crimes making a total of 483 burglaries in a ten-year period.
Schoning hopes that his confessions will enable him to turn his life around when he is released on parole in 2012.
As part of his latest admission he sent a letter to Gloucester Crown Court judge Martin Picton promising to ”go straight from now on”.
The letter read: ”I am glad at last to sort out all my crimes. It has taken a long time but I think all are now sorted.
”I have not taken any drugs at all while in prison and have been clean for 18 months. I regret all my crime and I will go straight from now on.”
Judge Picton commented: ”Since August 2009 he has been trying to clear up everything he has done.”
Schoning, formerly of Gloucester, first appeared in court in April 2009 when he admitted a total of 311 burglaries and was jailed for six years.
In August last year he voluntarily returned to the dock to admit another 126 offences and was handed a three-year jail term to run concurrently with his existing sentence.
On Thursday he made a third court appearance to clear up a further 46 offences – taking the total number of his crimes to 483.
Judge Picton gave Schoning an 18-month sentence to run concurrently with the earlier jail terms – meaning that his total sentence remains at six years.
Julian Kesner, prosecuting, told the court: ”He is a one-man crimewave burglar.
”He received a six-year sentence for burglary on April 16, 2009. It was a remarkable number of offences – with 309 to be taken into consideration.
”He was clearly a young man who had access to a professional fence to dispose of goods.
”There were thousands of pounds worth of goods taken from garden sheds and garages as well as houses.”
Jon Holmes, defending, revealed that his client is ”trying to put people’s minds at rest” and stay clean of drugs.
He said ”This is a man who has decided at long last to try to put people’s minds at rest. Some of the offences date back to 2001.
”It is remarkable he can remember them all bearing in mind the drugs lifestyle he was leading.”
