Serial burglars jailed
TWO serial burglars from Wigan who terrorised the North West have been jailed for a total of 10 years.
Andrew Smith and Kieran Pemberton pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit 20 burglaries and conspiracy to steal cars at an earlier hearing and have now been jailed at Liverpool Crown Court.
Smith, 34, of Isabella Square, Scholes, who is also known by the alias Andrew Atherton - and 25-year-old Pemberton, of no fixed address, were both sentenced to five years in prison.
Starting in August 2008, the duo were responsible for a staggering number of burglaries in which personal items and cars were stolen from the Darwen, Chorley, Bolton, Wigan and St Helens areas, with the items stolen totalling more than 275,000.
Both men had access to a number of addresses in the Wigan area, including Woodagger Close, Delph Street and All Saints Grove in Hindley, and they would often hide at these homes during their crime spree.
The duo would normally target the owners of high value cars such as Mercedes, Porsches or Audis and would either fit the vehicles with false plates or dump them after an evening of joy riding.
On one occasion on September 22 2008, the pair stole a Ford Fiesta from a house on Rivington Place, Coppull, and were caught on a speed camera doing 105mph in a 30mph zone while approaching a blind bridge. The car was not being pursued and was clearly driving at such high speeds just for the sake of it.
During a burglary at Whitley Crescent in Wigan on September 25, they senselessly stole the occupants' passports forcing them to cancel a family holiday.
A joint investigation was launched by GMP and Lancashire Police to find the pair.
Two days before their arrest, they crashed a stolen Audi at the junction of Scholes and Platt Lane after GMP's Tactical Vehicle Crime Unit deployed a device to deflate the tyres, but they managed to escape on foot.
However, on October 22, they were detained in a barn in Haigh after they had been spotted driving a stolen Transit van and were again pursued by police.
Det Sgt Phil Housley, from the Wigan Volume Crime Team, said: "These two men brought untold misery to their victims during their three-month crime spree. It is no exaggeration to say they terrorised the region, burgling countless number of homes and stealing people's personal property and cars.
"On a number of occasions, this pair drove the vehicles recklessly and at high speeds, putting themselves and other people in danger.
"When Smith was initially arrested and charged with burglary, he went on the run and was only brought back into custody after he and Pemberton were chased by police. Thankfully we have now brought these two men to justice and they are off the streets and behind bars where they can cause no more trouble.
"Burglary is a major priority for Greater Manchester Police and Operation Storm is our response to a concerning rise in burglaries across Greater Manchester.
"It reinforces our commitment to find the people responsible for this invasive crime and bring them to justice."
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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