Ex-City trader who became ‘gentleman thief’ breaking into 130 homes as he toured villages on bicycle jailed for five years
David Adams' life spiralled out of control after a recruitment agency he owned went bust and he turned to gambling and then crime to pay his debts
A FORMER city trader with dreams of musical stardom has been jailed for five years after becoming one of southern England's most prolific burglars.
Music production university graduate David Adams' life spiralled out of control after a recruitment agency he owned went bust and he turned to gambling and then crime to pay off his debts.
Since 2014, the privately educated 33-year-old has carried over 130 house burglaries, mostly on rural homes that he cycled to because he couldn't drive.
In a crime wave in Hampshire's New Forest, the so-called gentleman thief hopped from village to village on his bicycle and always left his victim's homes "nice and tidy".
A court heard he meticulously planned his break-ins, visiting the villages before and recording the position of blinds and curtains of potential homes to target in a notebook.
Adams previously served three years in prison for burglary and was described as a "model inmate" who helped other convicts read and write.
He even took part in a prison opera production of Les Miserables and the opera company who put on the production said they saw "great promise" in him.
But after being released from prison in early 2016, he carried on with his criminal activity.
Between November 2016 and August 2017 single-handedly increased the burglary rate threefold in some rural areas, stealing cash and jewellery from homes in several villages.
He admitted 58 burglaries on top of the 80 he had carried out between 2013 and 2014 on properties in Surrey, Dorset, and Hampshire, which he went to prison for.
MOST READ IN NEWS
A letter written by Adams was read aloud to the court. In it, he said he "tries too hard to be likeable".
He wrote: "I am so sorry for my actions and I hope one day I can put things right and be forgiven."
A psychiatric report highlighted the defendant's "gross persistence of irresponsible behaviour and disregard for social norms".
Adams, of Poole, Dorset, was sentenced to five years and four months in prison at Bournemouth Crown Court.