A BURGLAR, who continually failed to cover his tracks by leaving behind a plethora of DNA, has been jailed.

Simon McWilliams, aged 38, was sentenced to five years behind bars on Monday after pleading guilty to 12 counts of burglary, four counts of theft of motor vehicles, two counts of assault and handling stolen goods.

Minshull Street Crown Court heard that between July and November of last year, police received several reports of burglaries where windows and patio doors to the rear of houses had been smashed.

The burglaries, which happened across Greater Manchester and Cheshire, were not only being treated as linked because of the similar circumstances, but also because the offender left a number of forensic opportunities for officers to investigate.

On one occasion in August, following a burglary in Bury, a black balaclava with a skull motif had been found outside a house. It was later found to have McWilliams’ DNA on it.

A month later in Macclesfield, Cheshire, a man returned home to discover his neighbour holding a pillowcase full with items stolen from his house.

He was told that her son had seen a man running past their garden, at which point he tried to detain him.

However, McWilliams tried to gouge the son’s eye out and punched him several times. His mother tried to intervene but was also hit a number of times and bitten on the leg.

When forensically examined by officers, her trousers were proved to have McWilliams’ DNA on them and a screwdriver found inside showed his fingerprints.

That same month in Didsbury, another man had come home to find not only had the rear patio door to his house had been smashed but there was blood on kitchen drawers, the staircase bannister and on a duvet in one of the bedrooms.

The blood was that of McWilliams and a screwdriver found in a bedroom had his fingerprints on it.

McWilliams was arrested by police in January after an Audi was stolen in Stockport.

When interviewed by officers, he admitted to all the offences presented to him.

He was later taken on a drive around where he admitted to six further burglaries that happened between January 2017 and December 2017 across Greater Manchester.

Detective Constable Matt Tarr from GMP’s Stockport Burglary Team, said: “McWilliams is by no means a sophisticated criminal but the pain and distress he has caused to all these innocent people is despicable.

“Once he had smashed his way into the premises, he was prepared to do whatever he could to get away with the stolen property. I hope today that the victims can have some closure knowing that he is behind bars after what I can only describe as a prolific offending spree."