An old lag with previous convictions for burglary and other dishonesty stretching back to the 1970s has been jailed for eight years after a spree of more break-ins.

A judge said it was necessary to depart from sentencing guidelines to protect the public from Derek Jarrett’s offending.

The 59-year-old heroin addict, who has a number of serious illnesses, has 12 previous burglaries among the 76 offences he has committed over the years.

He was jailed for six years in 1994 for arson and burglary, five-and-a-half years for robbery and burglary in 1998 and five years for burglary in 2010.

The latest offences were committed in Rochester in January and February this year while Jarrett was sleeping rough in a tent.

He targeted a house in Howard Avenue after forcing open the catflap and stole jewellery, a laptop and credit cards. He pawned the jewellery and used one of the cards to buy tobacco.

The victim said in a statement he lost his late grandfather’s watch, a Hugo Boss watch and hard drives containing personal data. He had to install a CCTV system.

He said he had been caused emotional stress and called the break-in “a disgusting invasion of privacy”.

The second burglary was in Priestfields where the occupier returned home to find the glass had been smashed in the door. The alarm was on and his dog was in the house.

A Mini was taken using the keys left on a window ledge, said prosecutor Peter Forbes..

The victim of a third burglary was at home in Delce Road when she heard her dog barking and saw an intruder in the conservatory. The door had been smashed to gain entry.

“A disgusting invasion of privacy” - victim

She shouted at him to get out and he fled. She told in a statement of being scared and worried he would return.

Jarrett, of no fixed address, admitted three burglaries and asked for nine similar offences to be considered.

Maidstone Crown Court heard he had been detained under the Mental Health Act in 2010 after committing similar offences.

Judge Adele Williams said a report painted a bleak picture of a man who was highly manipulative.

“You have expressed limited remorse and concern for your victims,” she said. “You have an entrenched drug habit.

“I conclude you pose a significant risk of continuing to commit offences and the only way to protect the public from your crimes is the imposition of a lengthy custodial sentence.

“I have come to the conclusion it is necessary in the interests of justice to depart from sentencing guidelines for serious burglary.”

Keith Middleton, defending, said Jarrett was at one time sleeping in stairwells in buildings, including the Pentagon Centre in Chatham.

He had tried to find accommodation but ended up living in a tent. He became “heroin dependent” and stole to sustain the habit.

“He was in pain because of prostate cancer,” said Mr Middleton. “Three people he knew in Chatham had died from hypothermia. He accepts he graduated to burglaries not simply to obtain a roof over his head.

“He does feel remorse. He recently completed a social science degree which includes criminology. It has helped him to understand how victims feel.”

Jarrett was waiting for an operation for prostate cancer. He had suffered heart attacks and strokes and has angina and hypertension. He also had a personality disorder