Police didn't have to look far for the thief who had carried out a £12,500 gems raid at a Hythe jewellers.

Officers checked the shop’s CCTV footage in the hours before the break-in and saw hapless Anthony Foord, 36, staring in through the front window.

The shop's owner, celebrity antiques dealer Alison Chapman, released the chilling footage at the time in a bid to catch the culprit.

Scroll down for video

And police had little problem in solving who was responsible for another burglary at a convenience store in the town - as Foord had tried to rob its owner just hours earlier.

Now the bungling burglar, of Reachfields, Hythe has been jailed for five years after admitting three burglaries, one attempted robbery and an assault.

Prosecutor Simon Williams told Canterbury Crown Court how in September last year the doped-up thug picked on a stranger who was sitting on a wall in the town drinking.

Video: CCTV footage shows Foord breaking into the shop

Foord walked up to innocent Anthony Sweeney and punched him to the ground without warning and when his victim tried to stand up, attacked him again by punching and kicking him while he was on the ground.

Judge Adele Williams told him: “This was a sustained attack because you kicked him while he was on the ground. Mercifully his injuries were not as bad as they might have been.”

Two months later in November, shop owner Kevin Howell was on his way home after locking up his convenience store, One One Two Wines in High Street.

Foord ordered him to hand over his takings “or I will smash you over the head with a hammer”. Mr Howell offered him £7 in change but the robber refused.

Mr Taylor added that Foord returned to the store later in the evening and broke in through the roof, but triggered the alarm.

He said the former painter and decorator was later spotted on CCTV but Foord just continued setting off alarms, the court heard.

The following day he set off alarms at the Malthouse Arcade in Hythe after breaking in through the roof, but managed to escape “with a large quantity of mid-range watches”.

The prosecutor said that on November 16, Foord escaped with £12,500 worth of jewellery from Owlets Jewellers after causing £4,000 worth of damage with a crowbar.

But the judge heard that the thief – who has a 42-offence long criminal record - had been spotted looking through the window of the shop earlier in the day.

Ms Chapman, best known for her regular appearances as an antiques expert on hit television programmes including Secret Dealers and David Dickinson's Real Deal, put out a Facebook appeal to track him down.

Phil Rowley, defending, told the hearing: “This was reckless drink and drug-induced behaviour.”

Stories you might have missed

Woman due in court on murder bid charge

Policeman bitten and hit over head with chair

Body of missing man found

Hospital to pay out £1.5m damages