A SERIAL burglar has been jailed after he left his Covid face mask at the scene of a break-in and was identified by his DNA.

Ian Nash travelled to Teignmouth and Dawlish from his home in North Wales for three days in September 2020, when mask wearing was still compulsory.

He dropped the grey mask as he left a house in Underwood Close, Dawlish, after ransacking it and stealing £4,000 worth of jewellery, including an engagement and an eternity ring which were of huge sentimental value.

He went on to burgle two other houses in Summerland Avenue, Dawlish, and Boyds Drive, Teignmouth, which were both empty because their elderly owners had recently moved into care homes.

One had CCTV installed which provided images of him and he left distinctive prints from his Hugo Boss designer boots which showed he was the same man as carried out the first burglary.

Police traced him to his home in Wales but he was released under investigation and carried out a fourth raid on a house in Rhyl in December, stealing £3,700 worth of jewellery.

Nash, aged 52, of Glendawr Crescent, Kinmel Bay, North Wales, pleaded guilty to three counts of burglary and was jailed for four years by Judge Timothy Rose at Exeter Crown Court.

He told him: ‘At least two of these offences were really serious burglaries in which you ransacked the properties and stole items of economic and sentimental value.

‘You went equipped with a screwdriver and on one occasion a knife and the offences are greatly aggravated by your previous convictions and the fact that you committed another burglary while released under investigation for the first three.

‘You did not stop, even when you knew the police were onto you.’

Miss Felicity Payne, prosecuting, said the first two burglaries in Dawlish were both carried out on the night of September 20, 2020.

One family came home at 8pm to find their home ransacked and irreplaceable jewellery stolen.

A neighbour spotted a grey fabric facemask near their back gate and an off-duty policeman secured it in in their shed to prevent contamination so DNA could be recovered.

Nothing of value was stolen in the other raids in Devon but jewellery including a World War Two ring was stolen in the raid in Rhyl, which took place while the family were away.

Some of the stolen property was traced by the victims, leading to Nash being identified as the man who had tried to sell it.

Victim impact statements said the two families who lost property were devastated and felt violated, shocked, bewildered and desperately upset.

Nash has 69 previous convictions including seven for domestic burglaries and had been released from his last sentence for less than a year before he reoffended.

Mr Greg Richardson, defending, said Nash is truly sorry for his actions, which he blames on financial pressure to provide for his family.

He said Nash used drugs to cope with childhood experiences but is battling to overcome his habit.

He said Nash has made poor choices throughout his life and attributes his descent into crime to his first wife, who had a criminal background.