A man who burgled a house in Ewshot and stole war medals after ransacking a property near Godalming is behind bars after blood left at the crime scene eventually led to his arrest.

Kingston Crown Court heard Eris Tivari left blood smeared on a wardrobe door and pillowcase in a house he burgled in Bramley on February 2024.

His DNA was also found at a property in Ewshot following another burglary but Surrey Police didn’t have a match.

They got their first breakthrough seven months later when he was arrested by Metropolitan Police for immigration offences following a vehicle stop.

He initially escaped justice after leaving false details but his lies were no match for forensic evidence with DNA and fingerprints linking him to the Bramley and Ewshot burglaries. He was listed as wanted and his luck ran out in December when he was stopped for speeding and arrested for burglary.

The 29-year-old of no fixed abode was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to two seperate counts of residential burglary.

He admitted to the Bramley burglary during a hearing at Guildford Crown Court in March, and to the Ewshot burglary when he appeared at Kingston on July 15.

A spokesperson for the police cited the importance of the blood left at the Bramley burglary with Tivari’s arrest following a joint investigation involving forces in Surrey and Hampshire.

A spokesperson said: “Back in February 2024 a family returned to their home in Bramley to find it had been ransacked and more than £35,000 of jewellery stolen.

“This included watches, rings and war medals – some pieces sentimental and irreplaceable.

“But at some point the suspect managed to cut himself and blood was left smeared. Unfortunately it didn’t match anyone in the database when forensically tested – but that was ultimately his downfall.”