46-year-old Andrew Gareth Woods of Twyford Ave, Portsmouth has been charged with two counts of burglary. It follows incidents in the Widley area of Waterlooville. Andrew Woods has asked for a further 10 burglaries in the same area to be taken into consideration by the court. This follows a week after police announced charging 56-year-old Albert Ian James of Mill Road Crescent, Donnington, Chichester, West Sussex with 51 counts of burglary.
These charges relate to 24 burglaries in the Waterlooville, Fareham and Portsmouth areas of Hampshire and 27 burglaries in Sussex and followed a joint investigation between Hampshire Constabulary and Sussex Police. Of those charges 14 related to a series of burglaries in Cowplain, Horndean and Clanfield in November last year.
Inspector Dave Humphries who is responsible for policing in Waterlooville, Horndean & Clanfield said “This is a second person charged with local burglaries in as many weeks and is the culmination of a lot of hard work by our investigation, neighbourhood and response teams. Despite the reassurance of two people being charged I would still urge local residents not to be complacent and to take basic precautions to prevent themselves becoming burglary victims. Ensure doors and windows are locked and if out after dark leave lights on. Many premises are targeted early evening just after sunset and before people get home from work as those with no lights on are obviously empty. Fit a timer switch to a lamp to protect against this. Jewellery is often targeted and often very easy to find in houses. Make sure it is kept somewhere secure and it helps us no end if victims can provide photographs of their jewellery. Often people don’t think to pro-actively photograph their possessions.”
Andrew Woods is due to appear at Portsmouth Magistrates Court on Tuesday, February 24 and Albert James is due to appear at Portsmouth Magistrates Court on Thursday, March 12.
