A serial burglar who amassed a haul of goods worth more than $57,000 was given a suspended jail sentence last Friday.

Kevin Butterfield raided homes in Pembroke, Devonshire and Smith’s over several weeks last summer. He claimed he was either looking for a family called “the Smiths” or that he had been hired to do some paintwork.

Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo sentenced him to a three year jail sentence, suspended for five years.

Butterfield, 31, currently serving a sentence at Westgate, pleaded with Mr. Tokunbo for a place on a drugs rehabilitation programme, saying he had been in the grip of heroin addiction since the age of 13.

“The only thing I can see in the future is I’ll be in the cemetery or I’ll be in prison for the rest of my life,” he said.

“I’m tired of making a mockery of myself. I’ve got an 11-year-old daughter and I can’t do nothing for her in jail, acting the way I act.

“I’ve had a serious problem with drugs for the past 19 years. I’m just asking for some help, it’s not that I don’t want to change my ways, I find it hard to, doing it on my own.

“I’m sorry for my actions. I just want the opportunity to make something of myself so I can be a valuable member of society, through some sort of drug rehabilitation programme.”

Magistrates’ Court heard that Butterfield stole jewellery, computers, vehicles and electrical equipment from various homes on the Island. He pleaded guilty to eight counts of burglary at an earlier court hearing.

Cindy Clarke, prosecuting, said the first burglary took place on July 17, in Orange Valley Road, Devonshire. She said the owner went out and her son then saw a man walk to the front door. The man asked “Is this the Smiths’ residence?” and after the boy said no, he left.

Three days later however, the house was broken into. A $3,000 motorcycle, and a quantity of jewellery and electronic goods worth $7,000 were stolen.

On July 19, Butterfield burgled a house at Railway Trail, Devonshire. After the owner went to work his housekeeper arrived to find a man standing at the front door.

Ms Clarke said: “He motioned for her to open the door. When she opened the door, the man asked her ‘Do the Smiths live around here?’. She told the man no and he left.”

Later that day however, the owner returned to find his home had been broken into. A $2,000 computer, jewellery worth $15,000, and an alarm clock and backpack were missing.

On July 26, Butterfield struck again, this time in Palmetto Road, Pembroke. The owner returned home to find his $2,300 IBM laptop was missing, plus a $100 watch and a $291 modem.

On August 2, the defendant stole a $400 Palm Pilot, $177 walkie talkie, $500 hammer drill, $425 battery, and a Bank of Butterfield cheque book from a house in Rock Garden Lane, Smiths.

On August 8, a brown Nissan March worth $22,000 was stolen from a garage in Overock Hill, Pembroke.

Ms Clarke said: “A neighbour saw two men remove the vehicle from the garage and put a silver coloured car in its place. Police, responding to other related reports in the area, attended and determined that a burglary had occurred and that the vehicle had been removed and then returned.”

On the same day, a couple in Lone Palm Drive, Pembroke, found Butterfield in their living room.

Ms Clarke said: “The complainant asked the defendant what he was doing in his house, and the defendant replied that he was looking for the Richardsons in order to do painting.

“The complainant advised the defendant that he was in the wrong house and ushered him out. It was then that he noticed another man standing at the back of the house. He approached the man and asked him what he was doing there. The man said he had come to do painting. He then saw the man and the defendant get into a brown coloured car and drive away.”

The same day, a resident of Agars Hill, Pembroke, returned to her house and noticed a brown Nissan March parked in the driveway.

Ms Clarke said: “As she passed by the car, she noticed that a large flat screen television was sitting in the back seat. She entered the house and went into the living room area, where she immediately observed that her 46 inch Toshiba flat screen television, valued at $4,000, had been stolen.

“It was at that time that she realised that the television she had seen in the back of the car in her car bay was hers. Before she could react, she saw a man walk out of her bedroom and out her front door. As she was calling the Police she saw the defendant in company with the other man drive away with the same car and her television.”

Butterfield also stole a $400 pair of gold cuff links and a Swiss Army watch.

Also on August 8, a resident of Roxdene Lane, Pembroke, saw the defendant with a man standing near a silver MG Rover.

Later that day, his daughter said a man had climbed onto their porch with a ladder and had told her he had come to paint the apartment. The homeowner realised it was the same man, called the Police and officers arrested Butterfield later that day.

Ms Clarke said: “Whilst being processed and searched, a cheque in the name of the complainant and written up to be paid to the order of the defendant for the sum of $7,300 was found in the right front pocket of the defendant.”

Butterfield admitted the offences during Police interview.

Ms Clarke said: “During both interviews, the defendant confessed to having committed all of the above mentioned offences.”

Sentencing Butterfield, magistrate Mr. Tokunbo said: “These offences are a serious violation of people’s privacy and homes, and are a substantial theft of people’s belongings.

“Your record is horrendous. Help starts with your own determination to change your ways, to resist many crimes and using drugs. It starts with you. The rest of the help is just to facilitate you, to push you along.

“I am giving you the benefit of the doubt, based on what you are saying. The probation is part of an attempt to give you help.”

Under his current sentence, Butterfield’s earliest release date is January 22. He will then be on probation for five years.

Mr. Tokunbo warned him: “Whenever you get out, you’ve got a three-year prison sentence hanging over your head.”