MORE than 70 victims of a man described as "almost obsessed with burglaries" by a judge are set to help decide his fate after he admitted plundering scores of static homes.

Scott Anthony Craig, who had believed his break-ins into 72 caravans at country parks in County Durham and North Yorkshire would be counted as lesser offences than burglary, has been warned static homes and boats do fall into the same classification as homes built of bricks and mortar and to expect a lengthy prison sentence.

Durham Crown Court heard the spree spanned from late October last year to early February, and began shortly after Craig’s release from his previous prison sentence for burglary.

Ian West, prosecuting, said the defendant’s modus operandi appeared to be to gain entry to the caravans after breaking a window and swiped items such as bottles of wine, electrical goods, cameras, and even a dinghy.

Mr West said it appeared he would target a different site each night he struck, breaking into several caravans, when none would be expected to be occupied, due to the time of year.

Craig, 43, of High Northgate, Darlington, admitted 16 counts of burglary, at sites near Ripon, and Frosterley, in Weardale.

The defendant indicated he would ask for a further 56 offences, at several sites across the region, to be taken into consideration.

Judge Christopher Prince said: “I have not come across a case like this before, where someone is to answer for 72 dwelling house burglaries.

“The defendant seems almost obsessed with committing burglaries. In this case it’s 72 offences, by a man who seems to have taken the attitude: ‘I may as well be hung for a sheep as a goat’.”

Judge Prince said under the so-called Victim’s Charter, all 72 caravan owners should be allowed to make impact statements for consideration by the court, before sentencing.

He added: "I’m considering a long sentence. It’s only a matter of how long that will be. The message needs to go out that people living in caravans need the same protection as people living in ordinary dwellings.

“Although the defendant may have taken the view that dwelling houses and caravans don’t equate, well, he’s wrong.”

Addressing Craig, the judge said: “You violated the dwellings of a lot of people and you have upset a lot of people.

“You may have thought it a clever ruse that burgling caravans wouldn’t be treated with the same gravity as burgling houses."

Craig, who has been recalled to prison to serve the unserved part of his previous sentence, will be sentenced on June 16.