Porch Pirate Jailed After Parsons Green Parcel Theft Spree
Ronald De-St-Aubin already had 41 convictions dating back decades
De-St-Aubin and a still from a Ring camera taken during one of his thefts. Picture: Met Police
November 2, 2026
Residents of Parsons Green turned detective to catch a prolific parcel thief, compiling a dossier of doorbell camera footage that helped bring his three-month crime spree to an end.
‘Porch pirate’ Ronald De-St-Aubin, 61, was jailed after repeatedly stealing packages from doorsteps in Parsons Green between July and September this year.
His haul included parcels containing designer clothing and champagne, but his activities were finally stopped after frustrated residents gathered footage of him in the act and handed the evidence to police.
De-St-Aubin, a career criminal from Hammersmith, was subsequently jailed for 22 months at Isleworth Crown Court.
Police raided his home, where they discovered empty packages stolen from residents’ porches, along with clothing matching that worn by the thief in CCTV recordings.
The investigation also benefited from a GPS tag De-St-Aubin was wearing around his ankle as part of an earlier community order. Its records showed that he had been in the relevant areas when the thefts were committed.
Although he initially denied the charges, he changed his plea to guilty on six counts of theft by finding as the judge began reviewing the extensive CCTV footage in court.
Sentencing him, Judge Martin Edmunds KC highlighted the wider consequences of parcel theft, including the financial impact on householders who might not have insurance and on small businesses whose goods were being stolen.
The judge said the offender had shown no regard for the impact of his actions on his victims.
He said: “When an expected parcel goes missing, it is certainly inconvenient and may result in significant loss. It impacts on the quality of all of our lives.”
The father of two has 41 previous convictions and was convicted of breaking into a skateboard shop, just four weeks before the latest parcel theft spree began. He was originally given a community order for that burglary.
His defence barrister, Tamasin Graham, told the court that De-St-Aubin had begun stealing when he was just 13, in 1978, taking other people's belongings to fund his drug use.
She described his record as “a pattern of acquisitive offending spanning over decades”.
Detective Sergeant Andy Swindells, of the Metropolitan Police, praised the work that helped identify the offender and bring him to justice.
He said: “Ronald De-St-Aubin is a career criminal whose offending had a significant impact on his victims.
“He was identified from CCTV and we arrested him as he left his flat. A GPS tag that he was wearing around his ankle as part of a previous community order showed he'd been in the relevant areas when the thefts were committed.
“We know that parcel theft causes real concerns in our communities - and I hope this case demonstrates that brazen criminality of the kind De-St-Aubin committed will not be tolerated.”
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