Kerrigan plead guilty to 12 charges of burglary and one count of racially aggravated harassment (Pic-Met Police)
David Kerrigan, 38, was handed the sentence at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday 26, November to 12 counts of burglary and one count of racially aggravated harassment.
He plead guilty to the offences, which took place across the capital including in Newham and Waltham Forest, earlier in the month.
The offences occurred between Tuesday 4, April 2020 and Sunday 2, 2020, he would pose as a police officer in a bid to gain his victim’s trust and access their homes.
Kerrigan targeted the elderly and the vulnerable, the oldest of his victims was 96.
On each occasion he would wear dark clothing and produce a fake warrant under the pretence that there had been a robbery nearby and wanted to check if it had been their homes that had been burgled.
A rouse that victims fell for, granting Kerrigan free access to their homes allowing him to take what he’d like, in some cases he even asked his victims if they had any cash in the house and where it was kept.
He took approximately £4,000 in cash as well as jewellery, on occasion he took bank cards and used them to purchase things under £35 in local shops, something that was caught on CCTV.
None of the stolen property has been recovered.
Detectives from Newham and Waltham Forest noticed that they had cases which had the same motive, they looked at other crimes throughout London and found a number which used the same technique.
Police from six different command units worked together on the case to identify the man, it was a historical case from 2013 in Hertfordshire with a similar motive, they were able to review CCTV and confirm Kerrigan’s identity.
The investigation led to his arrest on August 12, 2020 where he was taken to a north London police station.
He refused to leave his cell to be interviewed and remained silent as the interview took place within the cell before he jumped up and threatened the officer.
Once she’d left the cell, they carried on the interview through the wicket which is when Kerrigan shouted racist abuse at the officer which saw him land an additional charge for a racially aggravated public order offence.
He was charged on Friday, 14 August.
Detective Sergeant Keith Faris led the investigation, he said: “This was a fantastic effort by my team, whose hard work resulted in Kerrigan having no choice but to plead guilty due to the overwhelming evidence they uncovered.
“Kerrigan preyed upon the elderly and vulnerable and abused their trust by posing as a plain clothed police officer to walk away with their hard earned money and valuables. We will not tolerate this type of offending and we will robustly target and bring to justice those who think they can take advantage of the vulnerable and elderly.
“Once Kerrigan had been caught, he vented his frustration by racially abusing an officer. While police officers appreciate that an unfortunate part of their job is being subject to verbal abuse, racism is never acceptable and we will robustly deal with anyone who racially abuses officers or members of the public.”
For more on this story, and the latest on our other local and national news, listen to Time 107.5FM
