Nine men who have been described as being part of an organised and sophisticated group were sentenced this morning following the theft of valuable Asian gold jewellery.
The sentencing comes after a large scale police operation in July 2015, which saw 18 addresses across north Wales and Cheshire raided in connection with the theft of Asian gold jewellery. Over 100 officers from North Wales Police, Chester, Greater Manchester and West Mercia forces were involved in the early morning raids. Three men from Wrexham were sentenced this afternoon:
- Michael McGuire aged 47 of Homestead Lane was jailed for six and a half years.
- John James Purcell aged 29 of Ruthin Road, was jailed for six years.
- Miles Delaney aged 32, of Ruthin Road, received five years.
Others sentenced included:
- John Purcell aged 24 from Connah s Quay, was jailed for five years.
- Kevin Joseph McGuire aged 34 from Blackburn received six and a half years.
- Stephen Berry received two years youth detention
- Francis McGuire aged 32 was sentenced to five and a half years.
- Miles Berry from Connah s Quay was sentenced to five years.
- Mark Bowen aged 46 from Oswestry was sentenced to 27 months.
-
DI Lee Boycott from North Wales Police said; I would like to pay tribute to the victims who had the courage to be willing to cooperate with the planned court case.
Burglary can have a traumatic effect and the nature of these offences was particularly upsetting for the victims. I hope they receive some comfort from these sentences.
Early last year we began to see a link in burglary offences in Cheshire and North Wales where high performance cars, heir loom jewellery and cash were taken.
Both police forces set up a Joint Investigation Team to deal with this particular organised gang who gathered information on the houses and people they wanted to target.
Following a series of warrants throughout the region, the men arrested were charged with offences including, conspiracy to commit burglaries, handling stolen goods, money laundering and participating in the activities of an organised crime group. The latter offence only came into law two months before the charges.
They pleaded guilty in the face of overwhelming evidence and must now pay the price for committing these crimes.
It is an unavoidable fact in this case that all of the burglars emanate from the itinerant or travelling community around North Wales and Cheshire.
I would appeal to that community to work with us to never allow this to happen again.
I would also ask the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity immediately and to take a common sense approach to home security.
Dr Farookh Jishi, speaking on behalf of some of the Asian community affected by the crime, noted that a combination of money and gold jewellery had been stolen, saying: Most of the jewellery is high value gold and is inheritance and wedding gifts. It is a cultural thing among Asians who often wear them on ceremonial occasions.
The Asian community is grateful to the police for taking the matter so seriously. There is lots of fear due to the specific targeting, people were afraid to go to school and pick their children up.
A lot of the jewellery has sentimental value and cannot be replaced. The burglaries caused a lot of fear. Detective Inspector Boycott said described the group as organised and sophisticated and that they had targeted heirloom jewellery.
He added: We gathered information on targets and planned meticulously, using overt and covert policing tactics to catch them.
The nine gang members were jailed for a combined total of 42 years and nine months.
What do you want to read next?