A PENSIONER who went on the run from court in April before he could be sentenced for a series of charity box thefts — including an offence in Bude — has not been seen since.

Avon and Somerset Police issued an appeal to the public for help in finding Carne Hewitt, aged 69, who at the time was said to have been living in Treborough.

Now, the Free Press can reveal Hewitt, who also uses the Christian name Alexander, has ‘form’, with a nationwide trail of crime stretching back 14 years across many different areas of the country, and several parts of Wales.

An investigation has found that appeals to find Hewitt after he ‘disappeared’ following crimes have previously been made by police forces as far apart as Yorkshire and Lincolnshire to Dorset and Cornwall, and also North Wales.

Hewitt’s crimes appeared to have been focussed on stealing charity collection tins from churches and small shops, and leaving guest houses and B&Bs without paying.

Offences have been recorded from Bude, in Cornwall, to Anglesey, North Wales, to Whitby, in Yorkshire.

Despite this, Hewitt was in February this year given bail by magistrates in Taunton after pleading guilty to four charges of theft, including in Dunster, over the past five years.

He then absconded before he was due to be sentenced in April, and a month later Avon and Somerset Constabulary became the latest to put out a public alert to find Hewitt.

A police spokesperson said: “He is of no fixed address and is known to frequently travel across the country.

“We have had no confirmed sightings of him in Avon and Somerset since the appeal was made, so cannot say he remains in the area.

“We are continuing to work to locate him and would urge anybody with any information to call 101 using reference 5226105750.”