A man, locked up indefinitely for stabbing his father to death, has confessed to a six-year crime spree involving more than 630 offences of burglary or theft.

Martin Ellerton, now 21, admitted committing crimes from the age of ten until he was 17, when he was given a sentence of detention for public protection after admitting the manslaughter of his father, Peter, on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Ellerton stabbed his 41-year-old father in the stomach with a large kitchen knife, in a garden in Sage Street, Canterbury, Bradford in October 2007.

Ellerton had a series of meetings behind bars with police and went with them on drives out to show where he committed the offences, Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday.

They included 38 house burglaries, 230 other burglaries, 175 thefts from vehicles and 173 offences of taking vehicles without consent, involving property with a total value of £300,000.

His barrister, Iain Johnstone, told the court there was no evidence against Ellerton for any of the crimes and none would have been cleared up had it not been for his admissions.

Ellerton pleaded guilty to three offences of burglary, in Wibsey and Canterbury, and one of theft, committed in September 2006 and April 2007, in court yesterday.

But prosecutor Bashir Ahmed said the defendant had asked for 632 offences to be taken into consideration – “the most I have ever seen”.

Mr Johnstone said Ellerton had assured him he had been through every offence and admitted them all.

Mr Johnstone said: “They go back to the beginning of 2001, when he was ten, and up to the point, at the age of 17, he received a term of imprisonment for public protection for an offence of manslaughter.”

Mr Johnstone said Ellerton had just had the first review of his sentence but it had been refused and his next review would not be until May, 2013.

After the case Detective Chief Inspector Mark McManus, of Bradford South Police, said: “This is an incredible amount of offences which have been taken into consideration and certainly one of the highest amounts I have ever come across.

“It took numerous prison interviews to ascertain all the offences Ellerton had been involved in.

“It is particularly pleasing to see that he has now admitted to these crimes, as he has clearly impacted upon the lives of hundreds of people.”

Judge Roger Ibbotson, adjourning sentence for probation and psychiatric reports, said he could not ignore the volume of offences and the amount involved.