Prolific thief dubbed the 'porch pirate' who plagued upmarket streets by stealing parcels jailed after frustrated residents presented dossier of evidence to police

A prolific thief who plagued upmarket streets by stealing parcels from their doorsteps has been jailed – after residents turned detective to catch him.Career criminal Ronald De-St-Aubin helped himself to packages containing designer clothing and champagne delivered to homes in Parsons Green, west London.The stealing spree was finally stopped when angry residents handed police a cache of doorbell footage which caught the distinctive thief in the act.The tattooed 61-year-old, dubbed the 'porch pirate', was handed a jail sentence of 22 months at Isleworth Crown Court today.Sentencing him, Judge Martin Edmunds KC said: 'When an expected parcel goes missing, it is certainly inconvenient, and may result in significant loss. It impacts on the quality of all of our lives.'When you took the items, you did not know what was in them or the level of harm you might be inflicting on those from whom you stole.'In some instances, the retailer will cover the loss, and in other instances the loss falls on the householder.'Either way, there is significant loss, and where that falls on businesses it leads to higher prices for us all, and with smaller vendors, a real impact on their viability.' Ronald De-St-Aubin was caught on doorbell footage stealing parcels Annoyed homeowners grew so frustrated that they presented police with evidence of the distinctive looter De-St-Aubin was arrested by police, who later recovered some of the missing items from his addressWhen police raided his home in Hammersmith, west London, they found 'empty packages' that were stolen from porches as well as clothing matching what he was wearing on CCTV.De-St-Aubin was then arrested and, having initially denied the charges, blurted out guilty pleas to six counts of theft by finding as the judge began reviewing the extensive footage in court.Prosecutor Nabeeha Rehman said the case 'relates to a series of parcel thefts that occurred between July 2026 and September 2026.'She said De-St-Aubin first stole an H&M package from Parsons Green resident Trisha Ray containing £196.88 worth of children's clothing, summer skirts and bikinis.Four days later, he stole three boxes of wine and champagne worth £500 delivered to the home of Charlie Evans in Parsons Green, west London, from the online retailer Winedrops on July 17.Later that same day, he helped himself to a Vinted parcel containing an Isabel Marant designer jacket worth £60 belonging to Perrine Parker.Only weeks later on August 8, De-St-Aubin stole another parcel containing children's clothing from Arket to the value of £195.40, as well as ceiling light fittings worth £150 two days after that.And on September 5, two days before his arrest, he claimed an Amazon parcel containing cosmetics, a kitchen product and a DVD titled 'The Ascent of Money' belonging to Caroline Begg-Smith. De-St-Aubin, 61, was described as a prolific criminal Father-of-two De-St-Aubin, from Hammersmith, was convicted of breaking into a skateboard shop just four weeks before his latest spree.Judge Edmunds said of that burglary, which marked his 41st conviction: 'There was, once again, CCTV of him inside the shop rifling the tills, taking the items.'Tamasin Graham, defending, said De-St-Aubin had 'a pattern of acquisitive offending spanning over decades' beginning when he was aged just 13 in 1978.She said the porch thief, who relies on benefits and has a history of drug use, had suggested that he was once subject to torture but provided no evidence for the claim.Judge Edmunds said: 'Some may say he is too busy touring the streets looking for things to steal… You have said everything you possibly could in these circumstances.'He added: 'Home deliveries are part of our lives. As one householder said: 'Parcels should be able to be left on my doorstep without me fearing them being stolen.'De-St-Aubin held his head in his hands as he was jailed.He has 41 previous convictions, most recently for the shop burglary on June 16, 2026, for which he was originally sentenced to a community order.Detective Sergeant Andy Swindells, of the Metropolitan Police, said: 'Ronald De-St-Aubin is a career criminal whose offending had a significant impact on his victims.'He was identified from CCTV and we arrested him as he left his flat. A GPS tag that he was wearing around his ankle as part of a previous community order showed he'd been in the relevant areas when the thefts were committed.'We know that parcel theft causes real concerns in our communities - and I hope this case demonstrates that brazen criminality of the kind De-St-Aubin committed will not be tolerated.'