An Ipswich burglar who was once the target of a nationwide manhunt during a two-year crime spree totalling nearly 50 break-ins has been jailed again.

Peter Sonny Martin O’Halloran, of Bramford Road, Ipswich, was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment by Chester Crown Court.

The 40-year-old had admitted committing two burglaries in the Macclesfield area in November.

After O’Halloran’s latest sentencing Pc Dale Hawtin, of Macclesfield CID, said: “O’Halloran travelled a couple of hundred miles with the sole intention of committing burglaries in wealthy rural areas.

“Our colleagues in the south east say he is one of their most prolific burglary offenders, so it is pleasing to see he will no longer be a threat to society for several years.”

In 2009 O’Halloran was given an eight-year jail term for dozens of burglaries across southern England, including at least one in Suffolk.

He was believed to have netted property worth up to £750,000 as a result.

The 34-year-old also gave £18,000 from his haul to his Ipswich girlfriend, leaving her a bagful of money and a note professing his love.

O’Halloran was sentenced at Gloucester Crown Court after being caught in Wandsworth following an appeal on the BBC’s Crimewatch programme. It was broadcast during a manhunt by Gloucestershire Constabulary.

O’Halloran pleaded guilty to nine counts of burglary, including one in Dullingham, near Newmarket, and another offence of transferring criminal property.

He also admitted to a further 38 burglaries, including in Hampshire and Surrey, which were taken into consideration when sentencing him. O’Halloran also struck in the Cotswolds, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, and Wiltshire.

Among the offences he was questioned about was a burglary in Walsham le-Willows, near Stowmarket, where cash, silverware and other property were stolen on January 3, 2008.

He was also wanted for a break in at the home of a former Jockey Club steward at Kirtling, near Newmarket in which hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of rare antiques and racing memorabilia were taken in November 2006.

By the time of his 2009 arrest, O’Halloran had been wanted for almost two years, both on recall to prison for breach of licence conditions and for questioning in relation to a series of burglaries.

In November 2009 O’Halloran and his accomplice – Philip Goncalves, of Sutton, Surrey - had £47,050 in cash assets seized by the courts as proceeds of crime.