A prolific burglar who told police they were “lucky” he wasn’t “grooming girls” after his arrest for a string of raids worth more than £19,000 has been sentenced to three years and four months in prison.

Neville Stanbury, 58, stole laptops, mobile phones, iPads, and other electronic equipment from businesses across the City of London between December 2025 and April 2026. This occurred despite a ten-year criminal behavior order that banned him from entering the Square Mile.

Southwark Crown Court heard that Stanbury carried out seven burglaries and attempted an eighth. His targets included offices, barristers' chambers, and businesses such as insurance firm Zego, finance company VFX Financial, IT firm Wavenet, and recruitment agency GH Engage. The total value of the stolen property was £19,570.

Stanbury, who has 50 previous convictions for approximately 140 offenses over more than three decades, admitted to the charges. Prosecutors described him as a serial offender whose criminal record dates back to 1984.

During the burglary spree, Stanbury was repeatedly captured on CCTV, often wearing the same distinctive green cap, according to prosecutor Matthew Jolliffe. On December 28, 2025, he raided offices on Eastcheap occupied by GH Engage, Roar Fitness, and Zego, stealing laptops and phones valued at over £6,000.

On January 23, he broke through the front doors of 3 Hare Court in the Inner Temple, entering barristers' chambers and remaining inside for seven minutes. Mr. Jolliffe noted that Stanbury was known to these premises, having previously been banned for entering with intent to steal.

Further burglaries occurred in March and April 2026, targeting Wavenet, VFX Financial, City and Commercial Insurance, and Hubflow, from which thousands of pounds worth of electronic goods were stolen.

When interviewed by police, Stanbury responded dismissively to the allegations. He stated, “I probably done them, so what?” and later added, “If you are telling me I did it then I did it.” He also expressed frustration about people stealing his own possessions and told officers they were “lucky he had not done worse,” adding, “You're lucky I'm not grooming girls.” When challenged about breaching his criminal behavior order, Stanbury allegedly replied, “So what?”

The court was informed that Stanbury has long funded a heroin addiction through burglary. He told police he was “not some druggy” and claimed he used heroin to “calm himself down.” His defense attorney, Ben Hargreaves, described Stanbury as a “hopeless drug addict,” emphasizing the difficulty of overcoming addiction without sustained professional help.

Stanbury was previously banned from entering the City of London until the end of 2031 following an earlier burglary spree where he stole nearly £40,000 worth of electronic items from businesses. In 2016, he received a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence for stealing approximately £32,000 worth of property during a five-month period targeting offices and legal premises.

Judge Christopher Hehir stated that Stanbury had committed the latest offenses in “flagrant breach” of his criminal behavior order and noted that previous rehabilitation attempts had failed. The judge criticized Stanbury's attitude toward authority, remarking, “Whatever problems you have in your life you adopt a truculent and confrontational approach to authority figures. You tend to blame others for your misfortunes rather than consider whether you are to blame.”

Addressing the root cause of the offending, the judge added, “The only person who can truly help you is you. No-one puts a gun to your head and forces you to take heroin or other drugs, and no-one puts a gun to your head and forces you to go out burgling. You have a choice - go on wasting more of your life in prison and possibly dying in prison, or look in the mirror and resolve to change your ways.”

Stanbury, formerly of Hither Green and Old Kent Road, pleaded guilty to seven counts of burglary, one count of attempted burglary, and one count of breaching a criminal behavior order.