07 April, 2015

Thieves caught in Tamworth after high-speed police chase are jailed

Four men have been jailed for a botched angle grinder attack on a cash machine that ended when West Midlands Police foiled the gang's high-speed getaway - and caught the culprits in Tamworth.

Dean Beech, Mark Kirk, Pedro Taylor and Jason Hadley hacked into the ATM at Waitrose in Kenilworth with the circular saw, crowbars and a 'jaws of life' hydraulic cutter – the type used by fire crews to rescue crash victims from vehicles.

They spent eight minutes trying to access its cash vault – causing damage estimated at £20,000 – before speeding off frustrated in a stolen Audi RS7.

They were handed two year and 18-month prison sentences, respectively, for the cash point attack, plus another 10 years each for plotting to rob a Birmingham jeweller on the morning of 1 August 2013.

Officers pursued the Audi RS7 – stolen from the driveway of a home in Bicester on 10 September – to an address in Oak Drive in Mile Oak where they forced entry to a flat when occupants refused to open the door.

Inside they found Kirk, who claimed to have been asleep with his girlfriend all night, while Hadley and Taylor were found dressed all in black standing in the kitchen.

See Original Post Here Tamworth Hearald
30 April, 2015

Tamworth car thieves snatched Range Rover from drive as owner scraped ice from windscreen

Crooks jailed for total of 16 years following police surveillance operation which uncovers string of luxury vehicle thefts across Midlands

A pair of prolific Birmingham car thieves who stole luxury cars from properties across the Midlands have been jailed following an undercover police sting.

Darren Smith and Richard Mander even carjacked a woman’s Range Rover from outside her Tamworth home as she scraped ice from the frozen windscreen, and on another occasion followed a motorist into her house in Pelsall and snatched the keys to her vehicle from a hallway table.

However detectives from West Midlands Police had the pair under surveillance and when they led officers to an industrial unit in Birmingham on March 17, two Audis stolen earlier that night were found.

Smith, 42, and associate Wayne McDougal, 37, were arrested from Smith’s home in Lansdowne Road, Erdington, the following morning, while 32-year-old Mander, of Morgan Grove, Smiths Wood, was later picked up by police.

Both Smith and Mander admitted conspiracy to burgle, conspiracy to steal and a robbery on February 21 in Fenwick Close, Redditch, when Mander threatened the homeowner with a screwdriver before stealing his Audi A3.

See Original Post Here Birmingham Mail
04 Dec, 2014

Car stolen from Tamworth driveway wrecked in high speed police chase

A car thief crashed and wrecked a Tamworth man's £14,000 Ford Focus after a high speed police chase, a judge heard.

Drug addict Suleimian Khan had been roped in by a professional gang to drive away the victim's car from outside his home in Falcon.

Miss Cortese explained that although the patrol car was travelling at 70mph, the Focus was still pulling away until Khan skidded on to a grass verge and embedded the car in to a hedge.

As officers drew up, Khan, whose face was masked with a balaclava, was trying to clamber in to the passenger seat and he was arrested. The front of the Focus was extensively damaged.

Khan, aged 19, of no fixed address, who admitted theft and dangerous driving, was given 12 months youth custody suspended for 18 months, ordered to do 150 hours unpaid community work, curfewed for six months and banned from driving for a year.

See Original Post Here Tamworth Herald
06 December, 2014

Tamworth police plea over car number plates stolen or lost

POLICE are urging people to be vigilant after an increase in the number of car registration plates being handed in at the police station.

Officers say that while some of the plates may just have fallen off vehicles, some could have been used in crime and then disposed of.

Alison Rowley who is the officer for Wilnecote and Dosthill said: "We've had an increase in number plates that are being handed in to the police station. Given the current weather kicking up dirt and moisture, this can prevent number plates sticking and sometimes they will fall off. However they don't always fall off – they could be disposed of after a crime has taken place.

PC Rowley has urged that anyone who finds registration plates hands them straight in to police who will check they haven't been stolen and haven't been used in criminal offence.

PC Rowley added: "If a member of the public finds number plates or indeed 'loses' their own, we would urge them to make the police aware. Please do not leave found plates out for anyone to pick up. The police can get in touch with the registered keeper to reunite them with their plate.

"If any reader's number plates are 'stuck' onto their vehicle, it is highly recommended they obtain screws and covers to fix their plates better to the vehicle. It doesn't completely stop theft, but they are a very good deterrent, and screw heads can always be purposefully damaged once fixed in place to prevent unscrewing."

See Original Post Here Tamworth Herald