A prolific burglar who targeted homes near Haslemere and Godalming has been jailed for six years.

Kieran Coll has finally been brought to justice following a two-year investigation by Surrey Police into a string of burglaries around the county, Sussex and south London.

Properties in Shackleford and the Cranleigh area were among those targeted by the 37-year-old of Blindley Heath between August 2023 and June 2025.

He also repeatedly evaded police – even escaping on foot after assaulting an officer on one occasion – and continued to burgle despite being charged.

Coll first caught the attention of police when he stole £1,500 of tools after breaking into a building site in Haywards Heath on consecutive days.

He was identified through CCTV footage with forensic evidence linking him to a November 2024 burglary in Horsham where £7,000 of tools were stolen from a furniture store.

Coll was then linked to a burglary and theft of a tradesman’s van in Lingfield, with the defendant being charged but failing to appear in court.

The offences continued and in May 2025 officers from Surrey Police’s Western Proactive Investigation Team linked a suspect vehicle to burglaries in the Cranleigh area. While responding to a burglary in Shackleford officers spotted a vehicle leaving the scene and identified Coll as the driver.

It was seen a few days later in Blindley Heath but Coll drove away at speed, overtaking vehicles dangerously before abandoning the vehicle. But he assaulted a police officer during the foot chase and managed to escape, and continued to offend around Surrey and south London before being traced to Kent.

“Two Surrey Police officers later spotted Coll in a supermarket car park and approached him to make an arrest,” heard Maidstone Crown Court.

“Coll attempted to evade arrest yet again and assaulted both officers, causing injuries amounting to actual bodily harm to one officer. Despite the assault, the officers pursued him on foot and successfully detained him.”

Coll was remanded into custody and admitted to four counts of dwelling burglary and five counts of non-dwelling burglary when he appeared at Maidstone Crown Court on April 9.

He also admitted to taking a vehicle without the owner's consent, three counts of handling stolen goods, dangerous driving, fraud by false representation, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of assaulting an emergency worker. Coll was sentenced to six years and two months prison and handed a 57-month driving ban.

He pleaded guilty to further singular counts of dwelling burglary, non-dwelling burglary and attempted burglar when he appeared at Guildford Crown Court in June, where he was handed a further 28 months in prison, to run concurrently.

Investigating officer PC Iona King said: “Through determined investigative work, we were able to link Coll to a series of offences, recover stolen property and ensure he was placed firmly behind bars.

"I would also like to recognise the professionalism and commitment shown by the officers involved in locating and arresting Coll, particularly those who were assaulted while carrying out their duties.”