A SERIAL burglar convicted over a break-in at a Weymouth school has been jailed for three years.

David Kelvin Kelly, 35, was found guilty of a burglary at All Saints School in Wyke Regis following a trial at Dorchester Crown Court.

The defendant was found in possession of computer equipment just minutes after the break-in on the night of July 22 last year.

The court heard a set of doors leading into the school IT department had been forced and that IT equipment and a large television had been taken.

Much of the stolen equipment was found littered around the school playing field shortly after.

When he gave evidence to the jury during the trial, Kelly claimed he had been out cycling in Wyke Regis at around 2.30am and had met his uncle Stephen Clapton, who had given him some computer equipment.

Kelly, of Howard Close, Wey-mouth, said: “I was riding down Hillbourne Road and he whistled as I rode past, which obviously made me stop.

“He said he had acquired equipment which he had bought and he gave me some sort of computer equipment.”

Kelly said his uncle told him he had more items to collect and could not make it in one journey so he asked if the defendant could take some round to a friend’s house for him.

He continued: “I rode into Doncaster Road and literally as I turned right a police car pulled up alongside me.”

Asked by his barrister David Gibson-Lee if he thought it was ‘odd’ that Mr Clacton was handing over this computer equipment in the middle of the night, Kelly replied that at the time he trusted his uncle.

The jury of eight men and four women spent just over an hour deliberating before returning their guilty verdict.

Judge Roger Jarvis told the defendant: “You were convicted by the jury and, in my judgement, the evidence was overwhelming.

“The outcome, in my judgement, was inevitable.”

The jury also heard that Kelly had an extensive criminal record with 27 previous convictions for 76 offences, including 18 burglary offences.

As he sentenced Kelly to three years in prison, Judge Jarvis said: “Everybody knows just how difficult it is in the public sector and various other sectors these days in relation to finance.

“Schools struggle to find money to pay for equipment they need such as computers; none of that seemed to bother you.

“Property owners need protection from you for a significant period of time.”