'Night Watcher' home burglary appeal response 'brilliant'

An appeal to trace a highly professional armed burglar linked to seven violent home raids has had a "brilliant response", police have said.

The so-called Night Watcher is believed to be ex-military and thought to be behind seven aggravated house burglaries across south-east England.

Armed with a sawn-off shotgun, he stakes out expensive properties and has taken items worth about £1m.

Police have received more than 100 calls and emails with information.

The raids, which took place between November 2014 and October 2017, suggest a suspect who possess "specialist skills" and training, detectives said.

He knows the exact layout of the properties and location of safes by the time he strikes, and is also adept at using cable-ties to tie up the occupants of the house, Surrey Police said.

Officers believe the burglar stakes out his targets for some time before launching an attack - leading some newspapers to dub him the Night Watcher.

He strikes approximately every six months and is not "an opportunist burglar".

Police issued grainy CCTV stills of the man during an armed raid of a house in Maidenhead

Det Insp Dee Fielding, who is leading the investigation, said since Tuesday's police appeal there had been a "brilliant reaction" from the public.

"The public are key in helping with our inquiries and I would urge anybody with any information to get in touch," she said.

"We will now get to work on assessing the information and see how it impacts on the future of the investigations being carried out by ourselves and our colleagues at Kent, Sussex and Thames Valley police forces.

"At this stage it is too early to say what other cases may form a part of our inquiries, however we will be keeping an open mind and we will keep the public updated as we progress."

Police say they are looking for a man who is white, of a stocky/muscular build, about 6ft (1.8m) tall, and speaks with a South of England accent.

He might be away from home regularly for extended periods of time, and have income that is disproportionate to his job.

Burglaries: Where and when

• 12 November 2014 - Kingswood, Surrey

• 21 January 2015 - Maidenhead area, Berkshire

• 13 January 2016 - Chichester area, Sussex

• 22 November 2016 - Sevenoaks area, Kent

• January 2017 - Maidstone area, Kent

• 24 April 2017 - Virginia Water area, Surrey

• 26 October 2017 - Kingswood, Surrey