A burglary gang which raided homes in Dartmouth were trapped by evidence from the satnav which they used to find their targets, a jury have been told.

The three Lithuanian men used the TomTom device to navigate around towns across Devon and a track downloaded by police allegedly showed close links to many of the 39 raids.

The intruders alleg­ed­ly sought out empty homes which were fitted with UPVC front or patio doors which contained a type of cylinder lock which was particularly vulnerable to being broken or drilled out.

They stuck not only in towns and villages including Exeter, Exmouth, Tiverton, and Newton Abbot but also in villages and towns in the South Hams, Exeter Crown Court was told.

Arturas Malysovas, 31, of South Esk Road, London; Dainius Gastilavicius, 39, of Worcester Road, East Lond­on, and Tomas Paula­vicius, 36, of Raydons Road, Dagen­ham, all deny conspiracy to burgle.

Bathsheba Cassel, prosecuting, handed the jury a bundle of charts which showed that one or more of the men repeatedly visited Devon on an almost weekly basis. She said they carried out a total of 23 raids or attempted raids in Devon and 16 elsewhere in Britain. They all involved a technique known as ‘lock snapping’.

She explained their movements could be tracked by combining evidence from Paulavicius’ satnav, mobile phone cell site analysis, forensics from the burgled homes and number plate recognition. She listed some of the raids which are attributed to one or more of the men. They included burglaries at Mount Boone Way, Dartmouth, where cash and jewellery stolen was stolen from two homes; and Redwalls Meadow, Dart­mouth, where no property was stolen.

The trial continues and is expected to run into next week.