A serial thief is facing deportation after being sentenced to three-and-a-half years for burglaries.

Marcin Jankowski, 28, was sentenced at Guildford Crown Court on Thursday, April 12, for two burglaries, including one in Thames Ditton on October 31.

He stole £6,000 of photography equipment from Catherine Harvey in the Thames Ditton burglary, which included professional photographs she had taken of a bride’s wedding.

The photos were the only memories Tara Hayler had of her big day and she issued an emotional plea for their safe return via the Elmbridge Guardian.

Most of the items were recovered following Jankowski’s arrest in Croydon in December, so Mrs Hayler was reunited with her wedding photographs.

Prosecuting, Leisha Weywell told the court Jankowski said on his arrest: “I know what I’ve done, I’ve been trying to turn my life around.”

Defence lawyer Pina Silvio said Jankowski was previously in the army in Poland, but chose to leave when his father was shot, so he could look after his mother.

That somehow brought him to London, but he was unable to find work and, when a Polish man gave him a roof over his head and drugs, he accumulated a debt of £3,000 and turned to crime to pay it back.

The court heard deportation papers had been served against Jankowski, but he had already been deported three times and returned to commit further offences.

Miss Harvey said: “I don’t think three-and-a-half years is enough, but that’s never the way.

“I guess it’s a long time for him to be off the streets. The fact he’s been sent back to Poland three times makes me wonder what will happen. He will probably just come straight back again.

“He clearly keeps reoffending and hasn’t been rehabilitated.

“It’s quite unsettling and I probably won’t sleep as well when he is released.

“I just really want him to know what I’ve been through. It probably won’t make any difference to him, but I want him to know what it feels like to be a victim.”

Judge Michael Addison handed Jankowski three-and-half-years for each burglary offence, to run concurrently.

He said: “This offence is so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified. The reason being the distress it causes to people who suffer from it.”