A man who claimed he had lost more than £12,000 worth of gadgets and jewellery to claim on the insurance has been handed a suspended prison sentence.

Joel Mtebe, 30, of Metropolitan Station Approach, Watford, was given an eight-month suspended sentence, as well as being ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and pay a £2,000 compensation order, for fraudulently claiming missing laptops, cameras and jewellery.

Detective Sergeant Matt Hussey of the City of London Police's Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department said: "The sheer number of fraudulent claims made by Mtebe over a period of many years shows that he fully intended to continually deceive the insurance industry.”

The City of London Police's Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) was first contacted by insurance group RSA in September 2014 about eight fraudulent home insurance claims encompassing six policies.

Following the original referral, a further five claims were submitted, all 13 of which were made between February 2014 and March 2015.

RSA discovered that all the claims initially used the same address in Reading. While other Reading addresses were subsequently used, they were in fact all linked back to the initial claims by phone numbers and bank accounts.

Most of the claims were made for laptops and bags that had been left on trains or in taxis, along with other claims for lost cameras and jewellery.

RSA identified Mtebe as an occupant of one of the flats in Reading, and several claims were made to RSA and one other insurance company using Mtebe's name or derivatives.

Mtebe was interviewed by IFED and admitted submitting completely fictitious claims to RSA in order to receive money. He stated he was in financial hardship at the time and was trying to provide for his partner and young son.

Following Mtebe's initial interview in March 2015, RSA submitted evidence to IFED of seven further policies linked to Mtebe.

Attempts were made to re-contact him for a voluntary interview, however these attempts were unsuccessful and Mtebe was listed as wanted on the police national computer.

Police found that Mtebe was planning to fly out of the UK on January 10 this year but managed to arrest and interview him at Heathrow Airport that same day.

In his second interview, Mtebe admitted being involved in the seven additional RSA claims and to providing his bank account details for the successful claim monies to be paid into.

Mtebe was charged with fraud by false representation on June 13.