Six years’ imprisonment was the sentence recently handed down to a thief who breached his court order, and conspired to burgle a home in St Albans.

Calvin McKenzie, 36, of Station Road, New Southgate in London, appeared at St Albans Crown Court on January 20 in connection with a burglary at a home in Smallford in March last year, and for breaching his Serious Crime Prevention Order (SCPO).

He was sentenced to six years for conspiracy to burgle and a further nine months in prison for breaching his SCPO.

It is a court order that is used to protect the public, by preventing, restricting or disrupting a person’s involvement in serious crime. The SCPO is intended for use against those involved in the most serious offences, including drugs trafficking, fraud and money laundering.

Chief Inspector Dave Wheatley, of the Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said the order was a “valuable tool for us to keep an eye on those we suspect may go back to offending upon release from prison.

“The orders are a safety net that allows us to ensure the community is protected from further criminal activity, as we are able to monitor their activities, and take action at the earliest opportunity if the conditions are broken.”

McKenzie’s SCPO had been in force since his release from prison in October 2015 after serving a sentence for burglary and theft offences.

Staff and officers from Hertfordshire’s specialist intelligence development desk and Serious and Organised Crime Covert Investigation Unit had been monitoring McKenzie’s activities and gathered evidence that he was involved in committing burglaries and breaching the conditions of the order.

This resulted in him being charged and subsequently being found guilty of conspiracy to burgle and one breach of his SCPO.

As a result he was handed the prison sentence and a further five-year SCPO to commence on release from prison.

Details of people who are currently subject to SCPOs can be found at: http://www.herts.police.uk/hertfordshire_constabulary/help_us_fight_crime/crime_prevention_orders.aspx