More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
A man has been jailed after stealing from kind-hearted women who gave him a place to stay.
Kevin Chapman befriended his two victims in Dover before taking jewellery and electrical items from their homes.
In December 2019, the con artist convinced a woman in a pub to put him up for the night.
The supportive victim also agreed to run an errand for him but returned home to find her laptop, tablet computer, mobile phone and jewellery had been stolen.
The following month, Chapman told another woman whom he had met in Dover that he was having trouble at home and at work.
After letting him sleep on her sofa, she went out for a short time and returned to find a large amount of jewellery and a tablet computer missing.
Following an appeal by police, the 37-year-old was located and arrested in Sussex on Friday, February 14.
"These offences are made all the worse by the trust his victims had placed in him"
Chapman, of Carnoustie Close, St Leonards-on-Sea in East Sussex, pleaded guilty to burglary and theft in court.
He also admitted two counts of making off without payment after he failed to pay for hotel rooms he stayed at in Canterbury and Dover in January 2020.
He was jailed for three years and four months by a judge at Canterbury Crown Court on Tuesday, June 16.
Investigating officer DC Luke Thomson said: "Kevin Chapman is a con artist who took advantage of the hospitality of two women who tried to help him.
"These offences are made all the worse by the trust his victims had placed in him by leaving him in their homes before he stole items which had both financial and sentimental value."
