Prowler gives judge the shivers

For five months last year, burglar Lexington Lewis silently jemmied open doors and windows and prowled around the homes of unsuspecting residents as they slept, seeking out their wallets and handbags.

Police called the hunt for him Operation Shadow, and a district court judge, sentencing him last week, said Lewis's late-night burgling "sent shivers down my spine".

Lewis picked homes in Pukerua Bay, Paekakariki, Waikanae and Wairarapa, burgling six homes in one street in one night.

Judge Bruce Davidson in Wellington District Court jailed him for eight years, with a minimum non-parole period of 4 1/2 years.

Lewis had pleaded guilty to 62 charges of burglary, 46 of using documents with intent to defraud, two of attempting to use documents, two of theft and one of taking a motor vehicle. It brings his conviction list to more than 350.

The judge said it was one of the worst lists he had seen in his 30 years as a judge and lawyer. He could do no better than echo the words of a 66-year-old victim, which he read to the court: "We are all now saddled for life with fear of the return of this man."

Judge Davidson said Lewis had been offending for 20 years and been in prison 14 times. His offending was planned, premeditated and he was accomplished at what he did. The sheer extent of it, the breadth and daring nature was evident in the police case.

Lewis, a past prison escaper, began planning a daring scheme while still in prison, writing to a real estate agent for a list of houses for sale, all but two of which were later burgled.

He was featured on police show Crimescene and at one stage had been dobbed in by his wife.

Detective Sergeant James McKay said police had known Lewis was living in the Wellington area. After getting a surveillance photo of him from a money machine, police were able to show a photo montage to the neighbour of a burglary victim and she identified him.

The day police picked him up, Lewis had committed 10 burglaries in Masterton in one night.

Mr McKay said Lewis had burglary down to a fine art, able to get silently into people's homes in minutes.

He often kept just the cash, cards or driver's licences from wallets and handbags and threw the rest away. Many victims had no idea he had been in their homes until the next morning.