A burglar has been jailed following a heist which saw him steal 159 luxury watches worth £1.4 million from a shopping centre.
David Buisson, of Malkin Drive, Harlow, admitted conspiring to commit burglary in July and was sentenced to six years and one month in jail at Maidstone Crown Court.
On the evening of February 7 this year, Buisson, 56, travelled to Bluewater shopping centre in Dartford in a Mercedes GLA using cloned number plates with a criminal associate, Kent Police said.
Just after 7pm, Buisson, wearing a facemask, used a telescopic ladder to access the roof and broke into the building by cutting a hole in the ceiling of the shopping centre, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
Buisson then went to a secure area where he overcame several security measures. He stole more than 150 watches from a safe before returning to a getaway car in an adjacent car park.
An alarm had activated during the burglary, so staff alerted Kent Police as soon as they returned to the shopping centre.
Specialist detectives managed to track the getaway car and Buisson’s movements through CCTV footage and mobile data despite the cloned number plates, the CPS said.
This led to a Vauxhall Corsa belonging to Buisson, who was arrested on February 12 in Cumbria.
Police discovered the camcorder as well as a bag containing stolen watches in his Corsa.
Another man, Stephen Smitherman was arrested and charged on the same day, with three of the stolen watches in his car, but he died while on remand.
Holly Morton, deputy chief Crown Prosecutor, said: “David Buisson went through enormous effort to carry out a premeditated burglary that caused significant financial loss to a local business.
“His sentencing sends a clear message that no matter how sophisticated your methods or elaborate your planning, criminals will be robustly pursued by law enforcement, prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service, and brought to justice.”
