A serial burglar who boasted on a Channel 4 television show about being a reformed character has been jailed for six years for raiding the homes of two sleeping pensioners.
Derek Bray was watched by millions of viewers on the Channel Four series Thief Catchers as he told how a special police unit had helped him turn his back on a lifetime of crime and drugs.
He moved to Exeter from Bristol to start a new life but soon drifted back into his old ways and has now been jailed for a crime spree in which he raided four homes in the space of a few weeks.
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Bray even went burgling on the night before he was due in court for an earlier break-in, Exeter Crown Court was told.
His victims included a 90-year-old widow and an 85-year-old widower, both living on their own, whose homes in Exeter were broken into as they slept.
Bray, 37, of Blackall Road, Exeter, admitted two burglaries, two thefts, taking a car without consent, handling, and asked for three other offences to be considered.
He was jailed for six years by Judge Francis Gilbert, QC, who was told that Bray has 35 previous convictions dating back to his teens.
He told him: "You burgled the home of a lady of 90 who lived alone while she was at home asleep at night. That is a serious aggravating feature.
"You were bailed and on the night before you were due in court you committed a further dwelling house burglary. You have an appalling previous record for burglaries."
Terry Holder, prosecuting, said Bray broke into the home of a 90-year-old woman in Higher Kings Road, Exeter, in January and that of an 85-year-old man in Rosebank Crescent, Exeter in March.
He stole a laptop and purse in the first raid and was caught on CCTV as he tried to use a stolen card at a cashpoint.
He took another computer, cash and cards at the second raid as well as the keys of the owner's Honda Jazz car which he used to drive to the nearest ATM where he withdrew £200.
He later admitted another two raids, in which he broke into unsecured homes and took a hip flask and other property after wandering the streets seeking out targets.
A stolen laptop, car keys, and other loot were found by police in a secret hiding place under the cooker at his home.
Emily Pitts, defending, said Bray had come clean about all his offending and helped police clear up the earlier burglaries.
She said: "He has been using drugs since he was 13 and been on heroin since he was 16. His mother is also an addict. He grew up in Bristol but recognised the need to move away from there and his mother's influence and try to better himself."
Bray was one of a number of criminals whose work with the Bristol Prolific Offenders Unit was features on the Channel 4 Dispatches programme in 2010.
In the programme he spoke about how the unit were helping him overcome his history of serial burglary and start a new life away from bad influences in the city.
