Fear terrifying Night Watcher has fled abroad with £10m haul
A VIOLENT burglar dubbed the Night Watcher has fled overseas after stealing more than £10million of jewellery, police fear.
The shotgun-wielding raider has been the target of a major manhunt for more than a year after terrorising wealthy householders in 12 raids.
However, Detective Chief Inspector Mark Preston, of Surrey Police, said: “No further offences that fit within this series have been identified since October 2017.
“This may be because the offender has left the country or has died.”
Victims included the Duke and Duchess of Richmond, who were attacked in their West Sussex stately home, tied up and forced to hand over family heirlooms valued at £700,000.
During other break-ins, he kicked a pregnant woman in the stomach and left a businessman’s wife fearing she was about to be raped and murdered.
Susan Morris, then 61, suffered a broken jaw and lost a tooth when the burglar raided her Surrey home armed with a sawn-off shotgun in 2017.
Last year, detectives launched a major inquiry, Operation Prometheus, to catch the burglar after originally linking seven raids in Surrey, Sussex, Berkshire and Kent.
Scared
Officers now believe he struck 12 times in the four counties between 2006 and 2017.
A further four high-value burglaries with “significant links” to the violent spree could also be the work of the same man. A common factor in the crimes is “senseless violence”.
The burglar may have served in the Army, Royal Marines or the police, detectives say.
Working alone, he carefully selected isolated properties in affluent areas and carried out night-time reconnaissance to analyse homeowners’ daily routines and security arrangements.
Despite a huge police effort, the Night Watcher has evaded capture and officers say they have gone as far as they can. Significantly, he has not struck since October 2017 and may have been scared off by publicity after a major appeal a year ago.
The few clues to the burglar’s identity include grainy CCTV images from a raid in Maidenhead, Berkshire, and small traces of DNA. But national database checks have drawn a blank.
The thief – who is white, stocky, with a southern accent – masked his face and always parked his getaway car out of sight of security cameras.