Officers have caught a serial burglar who used the rail network to target homes across Surrey and Sussex.

Darren Alleyne (DOB: 30/12/81) 44, of no fixed abode, would commute to various towns across the two counties and prowl the streets looking for insecure or empty homes where he could force open a front or back door.

Once inside he would stuff high value items such as electronics or jewellery into a large shopping bag before jumping on a getaway train out of the area. He would later sell the stolen goods on for cash.

Alleyene hoped to outsmart law enforcement by travelling as far afield as Woking and Horsham, Guildford, Reigate, and Merstham, and by regularly changing his mobile phone. For seven months (July 2025 to March 2026) it seemed his plan was working.

However, he was unable to evade CCTV and doorbell footage, which Surrey Police officers were able to recover, showing him at the scene of several crimes.

Officers caught him in Brighton after he travelled there by train. When he was arrested, he had already committed burglaries in the city and was found in possession of items stolen from these addresses.

Alleyne was charged on Wednesday, 25 March with 10 burglaries and two counts of fraud by false representation. He was remanded and later pleaded guilty to all charges. On Friday 15 May he was sentenced to six years in prison at Guildford Crown Court.

PC Luke Lightburn, from the Proactive Investigation Team, said: “Alleyne literally treated burglary as his job. He would commute regularly by train, find a place to break into, and brazenly travel home with a bag of stolen goods as if nothing had happened.

“Due to the manner of his offending, it took some time to track Alleyne down and pull together all the evidence we needed. I am pleased that, following months of determination and teamwork, we were able to hunt him down and get him behind bars.”