A thug who wounded a victim with a knife during a break-in was caught after leaving fingerprints at the scene of the crime.

Bardhyl Poga was identified by forensic officers after his prints were found at the scenes of two separate burglaries in Canterbury.

The first of these crimes occurred in August 2018, when the owner of an unoccupied property in Long Meadow found that the recently-cleaned house was a mess and some of the windows had been damaged.

Then, during the afternoon of September 15, 2019, the residents of a house in Rough Common Road returned home to find that Poga had broken in.

The 23-year-old picked up a knife and struggled against his victims when they tried to stop him leaving, resulting in one left with injuries to his hands.

After he fled the scene, his victims realised some of their belongings, including jewellery, had been stolen.

In both incidents, the burglar left fingerprints on windows in each property, which were then used to identify him.

"It would have been awful for the victims"

Poga, of no fixed address, was later tracked down in Essex and charged with the two burglaries.

He was sentenced to four years after admitting to the offences at Canterbury Crown Court on Wednesday.

DS Jay Robinson of the Chief Constable’s Crime Squad said: "Like all burglars, Bardhyl Poga showed no restraint over the idea of breaking into someone’s property to see if there was anything for him to benefit from.

"It would have been awful for the victims to arrive home and find him there.

"Our officers are highly skilled in investigating burglaries and by utilising a range of skills including forensic testing, they ensure that the not-so obvious clues are picked up at a scene which could help identify an offender and bring them before the courts.

"We also wish to thank Essex Police for their assistance in apprehending Poga."

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