Porch pirate who stole packages of wine, champagne and designer clothing in months-long thieving spree is caught after residents compiled ‘doorbell footage dossier’

DAILYMAIL.COM • 3h ago

By ELIZABETH HAIGH, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER and CAMERON CHARTERS 09:30 08 Oct 2026, updated 14:45 08 Oct 2026

A brazen porch pirate who plundered parcels throughout a months-long spree, ended only by residents’ ‘dossier’ of doorbell footage, is facing jail.

Ronald De-St-Aubin, 61, robbed homeowners in the affluent Parsons Green, west London, of parcels including champagne, designer clothing and wine.

He particularly targeted residents of St Maur Road, who became so frustrated by his crime wave they dubbed him ‘our thief’.

Following a series of incidents in July this year, householders passed Ring doorbell footage and stills to the Met Police which showed De-St-Aubin taking packages from outside their homes.

But the force initially said there was not enough evidence to arrest him.

His victims are open about the monetary value of the thefts being small, but as they told the Daily Mail today: ‘It was extremely annoying low-level crime which the police just don’t care about.’

De-St-Aubin, of Fulham, first became known to residents on July 17, when Charlie Evans watched him take three boxes of wine and champagne worth £500 from her doorstep through her Ring doorbell.

She had tried to reschedule the delivery as she was not at home but DHL delivered it anyway.

She raised the alarm on a resident WhatsApp group, sharing an image of the man from the footage – and neighbours immediately responded to say they too had been victims.

Together they amassed evidence of his activities, collecting images of De-St-Aubin’s outfit and distinctive tattoos.

One resident even turned sleuth themselves and followed the thief back to his home, filming him every step of the way.

When they arrived at the bail hostel where St-Aubin lived outside Parsons Green Tube Station, he discovered discarded Amazon packages with addresses from all over Fulham on them.

The same day as the alcohol theft, De-St-Aubin also swiped a parcel from Vinted containing an Isabel Marant designer jacket worth £60.

A few weeks later on August 10, police responded to a 999 call after he was spotted snatching another package containing a £150 ceiling light, but he was able to flee officers and escape.

Other hauls included a H&M parcel containing £196 of children’s clothes, while another on August 8 involved an Arket parcel containing £195.40, also of children’s clothes.

Then on September 5, he stole a parcel which contained cosmetics, a kitchen product and a DVD. He was arrested two days later.

Appearing at Isleworth Crown Court yesterday, De-St-Aubin initially denied six charges of theft.

But Judge Martin Edwards viewed the doorbell footage, turned to the defendant’s barrister and simply said: ‘Has he seen it?’

De-St-Aubin then said: ‘Your honour, I am changing my plea.’

He reappeared in the dock half an hour later and pleaded guilty to all six charges.

Judge Martin said: ‘I am quite sure having seen the footage in this case that your decision to plead guilty was a sensible one.

‘My principal concern is at what point you are going to stop committing offences and what the court can do to bring the date forward.’

He was remanded in custody until October 28 to allow for pre-sentencing reports to be prepared.

The court was also told he had appeared before magistrates on June 16 and been handed a community order lasting 18 months for other offences.

Following his guilty pleas, the resident who pursued De-St-Aubin told the Daily Mail today: ‘It is not a serious crime it is just very annoying. I don’t want to bash the police too much because if someone breaks into my house I still want to call them.

‘They are just not very interested in this low-level crime. It is low-level but it is not exactly victimless crime.

‘The police said it is hard to put someone away for just nicking one parcel they wanted us to get more examples.

‘When they can see he is doing it all the time, they can take a case against him.’

The pursuer also hit out at delivery companies for leaving parcels clearly visible on people’s doorsteps.

‘The delivery companies don’t even ring the doorbell even when you are in,’ they added.

‘Of course your post goes walkies, because people like Ronnie know to follow the vans down the road.

‘He would follow the Amazon lorry down the street picking up parcels. It was summer and he was wearing short socks, and we could see the tag on his left ankle.

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