A fish and chip shop owner from Altrincham is facing years in jail after pleading guilty to stealing jewellery worth more than £500,000 from multi-million pound homes in Wimbledon over a number of years.

Asdrit Kapaj, of Woodfield Road in Broadheath, conducted a 10-year spree between 2008 and 2018, during which time he carried out 21 burglaries and two attempted burglaries, with proceeds totalling around £542,000.

Kingston Crown Court heard today that in one single burglary, in February 2017, he made off with jewellery with a value of £371,855.

The 42-year-old Kosovan national also broke into five homes over Christmas last year, taking around £65,000 worth of valuables, carrying out one break-in on Christmas Day itself. He had been dubbed the ‘Wimbledon Prowler’.

Kapaj, who ran a string of fish and chip shops in Timperley according to The Times, was finally caught on February 22nd this year outside a Wimbledon property wearing a snood over his face and carrying a burglary kit including gloves, torch and pocket knife.

Married with two children aged nine and four, Kapaj has spent the last two months in prison before pleading guilty to the charges against him this afternoon.

Prosecutor Alexandra Boshell said the majority of evidence had come from automatic number plate recognition technology, which tracked his car driving from Altrincham to Wimbledon.

Kapaj admitted 21 counts of burglary, two attempted burglaries, and one count of going equipped for theft.

He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on June 21st.