Wimbledon prowler finally admits raids after a decade of burglaries

One of Britain's most elusive burglars - dubbed the Wimbledon Prowler - has admitted a string of raids on well-heeled residents which netted him an estimated £10 million over a decade-long crime spree.

Asdrit Kapaj, 42, who ran a fish and chip shop in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, regularly made the 400-mile round journey to steal from affluent homes in south-west London district famous for the annual tennis tournament.

Former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker and former Premier League footballer Nicolas Anelka were among the residents who were allegedly targeted by the prowler.

Despite a significant police operation to foil his raids, the married father of two repeatedly slipped the net and is feared to have committed an estimated 400 burglaries between 2008 and 2019.

All the while, Kapaj, who arrived from Kosovo as a teenager in the late 1990s, led a seemingly normal life in the north of England, where he ran his take away food business.

The daring, decade-long campaign of burglaries, only came to an end when his car was repeatedly spotted on Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras travelling back and forward between Manchester and London.

Yesterday, the man who had tormented the wealthy residents of Wimbledon for more than a decade, finally admitted his role, pleading guilty to 24 offences.

Judge Peter Lodder QC described Kapaj as having "identified a particular area and conducted a sustained campaign".

Kapaj was convicted at Kingston Crown Court of burglary, attempted burglary and being found equipped for burglary.

His crimes were almost exclusively committed in the SW19 and SW20 postcodes.

Prosecutors said the value of his haul - which was chiefly jewellery, designer clothes and cash - was £632,000, but a previous hearing was told it could be as high as £10 million.

His methods were skillfully honed to avoid detection as he crept into the homes in the dead of night, often wearing a fisherman’s hat and hiding his face.

To avoid triggering alarms, he would shimmy up drainpipes, as well as cutting cables to disable CCTV and closing windows behind to obscure the fact that anyone had been inside.

He would focus on stealing cash and jewelry, rather than large electronic items and would sometimes only take a portion of what he found, so as to further cover his tracks.

Such was the delicacy of his work that victims often did not initially realise they had been burgled and in some cases, au pairs and other domestic staff were sacked after being falsely accused of pilfering.

After Mr Becker's home was targeted in 2014, the tennis star's wife, Lilly, said she could no longer enjoy her living there.

The charge relating to the alleged Becker burglary was not put to Kapaj at yesterday’s hearing.

At an earlier hearing Prosecutor Angela Mahadeot told Wimbledon Magistrates' Court “Although

Kapaj has no offences on his record, the Crown say that he has been successful in hiding his criminal behaviour over the years.

"He has contacts in his home country of Kosovo and in Albania, he is likely to leave the country and the Crown say it is reasonable to assume he may not have been acting on his own.”

He was finally linked to the spate of burglaries when he was arrested with his face covered by a snood and carrying a pocket knife, torch and gloves.

Tahir Ali, defending, told a previous hearing he had struggled with a “gambling addiction”, but questioned prosecutors’ claim the offences were worth £10 million.

Speaking after his conviction yesterday, one victim, Philippa Beck, 81, said she was struck by “blank amazement” upon learning the culprit’s identity.

She added: “It really is (a relief). He was using our garden as a passage. Our burglary was June 2018, we were on holiday at the time.

“He didn’t get very far with us because the alarm went. He crashed through a window - through £650 worth of window.”

Laurie Porter, the chairman of the Wimbledon Village neighbourhood police patrol, added: “I’m just thrilled we don’t have to worry about this man terrorising Wimbledon Village for the foreseeable future.

“People have always been aware that he has been creeping around our gardens and our streets. I think I can speak for most of us when I say we will be sleeping more easily now he’s been caught.”

He was remanded in custody for sentencing which will take place at the same court on June 21.