The Cat is caged

Alleged serial burglar behind bars

Alleged serial burglar was caught 'red-handed'

THE REIGN of terror of a notorious alleged burglar, nicknamed ‘The Cat’, was ended this week when a judge ordered the 32-year-old to be held behind bars after allegedly being caught ‘red-handed’ after breaking into a Javea home.

A judge in Dénia remanded her in custody after being told she had been arrested in the Marina Alta town more than 20 times by the Guardia Civil and local police.

The suspect - said to be responsible for a one-woman crime wave over the past few months - was taken to Fontcalent prison in Alicante after her court appearance.

A 700-strong action group made up of victims and worried residents - which demanded the authorities take action after officially reporting ‘countless’ crimes in homes, celebrated and simply said: “Mission accomplished!”

The group had sent an online petition to the town hall calling for protection against the ‘untouchable’ burglar and included a string of crime numbers with the complaint.

The English woman was accused of brazenly breaking into homes during daylight hours or under cover of darkness - if confronted by people living at an address she would simply ask for a glass of water or claim she wanted to call a taxi.

She earned her nickname by her uncanny ability to scale walls and fences to reach open windows or doors - she also has three distinctive tattoos of paw prints down her left jaw line.

And while she cannot be named for legal reasons, one Facebook user simply christened her ‘paw print tattoo girl’.

As news of her remand circulated, the ‘arrest her’ group posted ‘the reign of terror is hopefully over now’ and ‘we are cautiously optimistic we have managed to remove this menace from our streets for the foreseeable future’.

The group also thanked individual members for their help, support, and sharing information that helped to build a case against the defendant there was also an acknowledgement of the ‘frustration’ of the police forces in trying to protect householders.

It claimed by working together and using social pressure, ‘determined’ members had helped to ‘protect our way of life’ in Jávea.