A cunning burglar responsible for a 12-year crime spree involving hundreds of high-value break-ins, many at schools, colleges and council buildings, has been jailed for just four years.

Stephen Patrick Broderick, 35, could be back on the streets in just two years despite confessing to 250 burglaries, some of them in Wimbledon, and stealing up to £700,000 worth of goods a court hearing this month.

He pleaded guilty to 62 offences committed in the past four years across south west London and Surrey and asked in court for another 192 to be taken into consideration.

Broderick, who lives in Sutton, “had an eye” for gadgets such as motor vehicles, jewellery, computers, televisions, cameras, video recorders, games consoles, telephones, MP3 players and sports equipment.

He preferred to steal from schools, colleges and council buildings but also turned over houses.

His haul from Merton schools included a teacher's wallet from Donhead Preparatory School in Edge Hill stolen in June last year, an £800 Apple Mac computer from St Mark's Academy in Mitcham in March 2009 and a cash box from the Wimbledon School of English in Worple Road in May.

By regularly switching his method of operation and ensuring he left no evidence at the crime scenes he was able to escape detection for many years until a burglary at Dorking finally led a joint London and Surrey police team to his door.

His four-year sentence at Kingston Crown Court on September 9 has sparked outrage in the community.

Chris Grayling, shadow Home Secretary and MP for Epsom and Ewell, said: “He probably will be back on the streets within about two years, under the Government early release scheme.

“The frustration for police and locals is this man will be out again, probably re-offending, within what most people would think is an absurdly short space of time.”

Wimbledon councillor David Dean said: "The courts need to do their bit - we all need to work together to reduce crime, and that includes authorities outside the borough."

John Mansfield, who lost his relatives war medals when burglars broke into his family home in Mitcham Park, described the sentence as "very light indeed".

Peter Watson, a former head of Wimbledon's Trinity ward Neighbourhood Watch, said: "How many of those people were elderly? These things can destroy people's lives. They have a huge impact, especially on the vulnerable."

A spokesman for Merton police said: “What is most especially upsetting is that the majority of offences occurred in schools and other education institutions, stealing projectors and computers.

“These items are invaluable to the education of children and Broderick would break in and steal without a second thought.

“This result is excellent for the Metropolitan Police Burglary Squads in south London. He was a persistent offender who acted in total disregard to the effect his actions would have on education and other businesses.”

A Crown Prosecution Service spokeswoman said: “When a defendant asks for previous offences to be taken into consideration, they will receive a higher than normal sentence for the charges for which they are being tried.

“However these are not in fact the charges for which they are being sentenced. The benefit is that the previous offences no longer have to be investigated and can be closed.”