A man caught pawning jewellery just days after it was swiped from a house has been jailed.

Richard Line, 48, was seen offering the stolen valuables to jewellers, pawnbrokers and second-hand shops in Thanet.

Days earlier, on Sunday, June 22, jewellery worth around £6,000 had been burgled from a house in Ramsgate Road, Margate.

Line was spotted visiting a shop and in CCTV images, he could be seen wearing a watch which was identified as stolen.

When officers raided Line's home, they found a diamond ring in his washing machine which was identified by the burglary victims as belonging to them as well.

"Handling stolen goods is as serious as stealing the items themselves and that is reflected in the sentence the judge passed..." - DS Neil Watford

Detectives discovered that Line had visited pawnbrokers on several days, selling a range of jewellery and netting around £965 in return.

The items were seized by officers and identified as stolen.

Line had used a fake name to open an account at the pawnbrokers, providing a photo driving licence to back up his lies, but officers quickly saw the photo did not match with the CCTV images of him.

When interviewed by police, Line admitted he had bought and sold stolen goods using a different identity "to make ends meet".

He was sentenced to four years in prison for handling stolen goods at Canterbury Crown Court on Friday.

Line also pleaded guilty to two fraud offences and was sentenced to six months in prison for each, to run concurrently.

Detective Sergeant Neil Watford said: "Line believed that selling stolen jewellery was a good way to make cash but it was simply a good way to end up in prison.

"Our officers were quickly able to identify where he had been selling in Thanet, recover those stolen items and Line was arrested within days.

"Handling stolen goods is as serious as stealing the items themselves and that is reflected in the sentence the judge passed."