A man who ram-raided a Dartford hair salon while wearing a GPS ankle tag has been jailed.

Gary Parkes was one of two men who used a moped to smash through the door of the Mark Mardell Hair Salon in Market Street in January, escaping with hairdryers, curlers, straighteners and other beauty products.

Despite the haul of beauty products, things turned ugly for the duo when a GPS tag fitted to Mr Parkes' ankle placed him at the scene.

The tag, which was fitted after he was released from prison for a separate matter, provided the Chief Constable’s Crime Squad with irrefutable evidence of his guilt.

The 32-year-old, of Frederick Place, Woolwich, admitted burglary and was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court yesterday to one year and 10 months’ imprisonment.

Co-offender Liam Byrom, 25, of no fixed address, also received the 22 month sentence, having admitted the same charge.

Parkes and Byrom targeted the hair salon, based in Market Street, shortly after 5pm on January 1, 2022 - and owner Mark Mardell spoke of his despair and distress in the aftermath of the raid.

The raid was clearly captured on CCTV and showed the two men using a moped to smash through the front windows of the business.

They then stole equipment and beauty products, worth up to £3,000, before leaving the scene on the same vehicle.

Although both offenders were wearing crash helmets, Parkes was soon identified as a suspect as he was wearing an electronic tag which tracked his movements.

The data from the tag matched the movements of the moped, which had been captured on CCTV and ANPR cameras.

Detectives then obtained a warrant to arrest him at his home address on January 13. He was then charged with the offence and has been held on remand since.

Byrom was identified as a co-defendant after a review of Parkes’ phone showed the pair had been in regular contact on the day of the offence, and phone mast data then confirmed the two had travelled together to the scene of the offence.

He was arrested after detectives carried out a warrant at a property in Sidcup on 20 January. Inside the address, officers uncovered the clothing Byrom wore on the date of the burglary and, like Parkes, he has been remanded in custody since.

Detective Constable Dan Bister, Kent Police’s investigating officer for the case, said: "Parkes and Byrom caused a considerable amount of disruption for the business, not just because of the items stolen but because of the damage they caused to the door.

"I’m pleased that we have quickly been able to secure justice for the victims and hope they can feel a sense of justice from this result.

"We will never show any tolerance for offending of this nature and will always do everything in our power to hold people like Parkes and Byrom accountable for their actions."