A refrigerator engineer from Harlesden who stole equipment from a string of employers totalling thousands of pounds has been jailed.

Tawfiq Lamnouar, of Dryfield Close, also failed to return a Volkswagen Golf rental car, which has never been traced, during his crime spree between April 2012 and last August.

Last week Blackfriars Crown Court heard the 37-year-old stole mobile phones, tools, equipment and cash while working for five different companies over 16 months.

In September last year he was found guilty in his absence of two counts of thefts involving one of his employers and a warrant was issued for his arrest after he failed to attend court.

He was arrested in November and last month he admitted a further four counts of theft involving four more companies.

He was sentenced to 30 months in jail for each of the six offences which he will serve concurrently.

Detective Constable Neil Webb, of Kensington and Chelsea Borough’s CID, who investigated the offences, said: “Lamnouar is a serial offender who was unscrupulous in exploiting the trust of his employers for his own gain. While they placed their faith in him by offering employment, he repaid them by stealing their property and acting with dishonesty at every turn.

“He also damaged their reputations through his unprofessional dealings with clients.

“I have no doubt that Lamnouar would have continued committing similar offences had he not been caught, and he fully deserves to spend time behind bars.”