A gang of professional burglars have been jailed for a total of 21 years after a Judge heard they left a trail of misery across Devon.

The three men targeted the empty homes of pensioners who were away on holiday and looted £100,000 worth of jewellery in 39 raids.

They were trapped because they used a TomTom satnav to plan their trips to Devon and Sussex and enables detectives to link their movements to the burglaries.

The gang were all Lithuanians who had moved to East London to work in the building trade but turned to crime. They burgled 23 homes in Devon and 16 in Sussex.

When they were caught police recovered a kit which the men had put together to use on a specific type of cylinder lock which is widely used in UPVC doors and conservatories.

One of the gang had a locksmith’s catalogue and police found drills and other tools which enabled them to break into homes in a technique known as lock snapping.

Two of them had previously served jail sentences in Germany for a robbery in Dusseldorf and they all had criminal records in this country.

They received severe sentences after a Judge at Exeter Crown Court was read heart-rending statements from the victims of the raids telling how they had blighted their lives.

Many of the victims were elderly and most lost jewellery which had been handed down through their families for generations and which they planned to pass on to their grandchildren.

One home owner in Chillington, near Kingsbridge, rushed back from holiday because her mother had died only to find that her home had been burgled.

Another victim lost a gold watch which he had given to his wife as a wedding present while a pensioner in Kingsteignton had money she had set aside to go on holiday taken.

Two of the householders, from Honiton and Brixham, were so upset by the violation of their homes they no longer wanted to live there and planned to move, the court heard.

The gang operated around Britain for eight months until their arrest in March 2015 and police are still investigating around 100 more cases where the same method of entry was used.

In Devon they struck in larger towns including Exeter, Exmouth, Tiverton, Torbay, Newton Abbot, Dartmouth and Ashburton, and went as far as the South Hams to burgle homes in Chillington and Stokenham.

Dainius Gastilavicius, aged 39, of Worcester Road, East London; Arturas Malysovas, aged 21, of South Esk Road, London; and Tomas Paulavicius, aged 36, of Raydons Road, Dagenham, all denied conspiracy to burgle.

All three chose not to give evidence but they were found guilty in less than hour by a jury which had spent a week listening to detailed forensic evidence.

Satnav, DNA, phone and number plate recognition evidence built up an exact picture of their movements and a iPad stolen in Devon was traced by Apple to Lithuania, where it was being used by one of their associates.

Gastilavicius was jailed for seven years, Malysovas for six years, and Paulavicius for eight years by Recorder Mr James Waddington.

He told them: "Your crimes were professionally planned and carried out and involved travelling to various areas by car and targeting homes you believed to be unoccupied.

’I have heard 22 victim impact statements which refer to items of jewellery of great sentimental value. Their loss has caused anxiety and feelings that the losers no longer feel safe in their own homes.

’They all feel violated. You have been brought to justice by a thoroughly professional and painstaking police operation by the police in Devon and Somerset and Sussex.

’The full facts make it clear these offences are much more serious than each burglary considered individually. The sheer number of offences and their professional mature make these offences more serious.’

During the trial he jury heard how the men were traced by DNA left on windows during raids in Peard Road, Tiverton and St Mawes Drive, Paignton.

Searches of their cars and homes uncovered the satnav which revealed their movements, tools which could be used in drilling out and snapping locks, a locksmith’s catalogue, a videoscope, skeleton keys and gloves.

Bathsheba Cassel, prosecuting, said: ’This was a highly professional and well organised conspiracy which caused loss and distress to a large number of victims.

’The jewellery stolen was often of extremely high sentimental value. The value of the jewellery stolen in Devon alone is calculated at £90,000 to £100,000.

’More than half the victims were elderly and retired people, a number of whom were very infirm or vulnerable. Many have made victim statements.’

Defence barristers William Parkhill, Brian Fitzherbert and Barry White said all three men had good work records and families and intended to return to the building trade when they are freed.

They said they had only gone into empty homes and had not confronted any of the victims.

The burglaries were at:

July 2014.

Pine Grove, Honiton, two houses burgled.

Gloucester Road, Exeter.

August 2014.

Church Road, Bognor Regis.

Andrews Avenue, Bognor Regis.

September 2014.

Penpethy Rd, Brixham

North Boundary Rd, Brixham.

St Mawes Drive, Paignton.

October 2014;

Butts Park, Stokenham, no property stolen.

Mount Boone Way, Dartmouth. Two homes burgled, cash, jewellery stolen.

Redwalls Meadow, Dartmouth, no property stolen.

Vealenia Park, Ashburton, cash and jewellery stolen.

Villiers Road, Newton Abbot.

Clifford Avenue, Kingsteignton.

Robins Field, Chillington.

Green Park Court, Chillington.

Peard Road, Tiverton, jewellery, cash and iPad stolen.

Winston Rd, Exmouth. Damage to lock, no entry gained.

November 2014.

Westcott Road, Tiverton. Two bungalows entered. Cash and Euros stolen.

Rydon Avenue, Kingsteignton.

December 2014- January 2015.

Coombes Avenue, Horsham.

Vale Drive, Horsham.

St Hughes Drive, L

March 2015.

Rusper Road, Horsham.