Two burglars were found with keys to a number of high-end cars, WW1 medals and keys to a disability-adapted caravan - as they were being arrested for ANOTHER burglary. Shah Ahmed and Saiyeem Ali, both 21, were both caught in the act of burgling a house in Cheadle in February 2020.
Officers searched both men and found keys to a Fiat 500 in the pocket of Ali, which was parked nearby. The car was searched and within it, car keys, mobile phones and jewellery were recovered.
The items were later linked to six burglaries which had taken place across Cheadle, Gatley and Heald Green from December 21 2019 to February 2020.
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The first took place at an address on Appleby Close in Gatley, after the owner had gone away on holiday. Six days later, on December 21, he was informed that he had been burgled and keys to a Mini and a Mercedes A Class had been stolen, as well as both of the cars.
Photos of the cars were later found in Ahmed’s phone, Manchester Crown Court heard. In a statement, the owner said he and his family had been caused a massive inconvenience as they had to make alternative arrangements for their son’s spinal examination.
Days later, on December 26, the homeowner had returned home to Richmond Hill Road in Cheadle from their holiday to find it had been broken into. “A black Audi TT and a Ford Fiesta were taken, along with the keys. Also £10,000 worth of jewellery was taken, some of which had great sentimental value as it was passed down from the owner’s wife’s mother,” prosecutor Duncan Wilcock said.
On January 30 2020, a retired gentleman left his home on Oakdale Drive, Heald Green, and returned a day later to find the house had been ‘ransacked’. All the drawers and cupboards were empty, with items strewn across the bed and the floor.
“£1,000 worth of jewellery was stolen, 380 Euros, £600 sterling, and medals handed down from both his father and grandfather from the First and Second World Wars were also taken,” the prosecutor said. Keys to a Vauxhall Astra were also taken, and later found in the Fiat 500.
At another address on Richmond Hill Road, on January 4, a homeowner received a call from her son to say she had been burgled. A Ford Fiesta, as well as $500 was stolen, and the car keys were also found in the Fiat 500. The burglars had gotten into the house by smashing the patio window, the court heard.
Then on January 14, another homeowner returned to his house on Sandgate in Blackpool to find a statue had been thrown through his patio window. His home had been ransacked and ‘everything was thrown onto the floor’. Cash, a watch and his BMW had been stolen during the burglary.
Photos of the inside of the BMW, namely the steering wheel, were later discovered on Ahmed’s phone that same day. The final burglary took place at an address on The Tams, in Gatley, where the victim and his wife returned home from a trip to London to find it had been broken into.
“£3,200 worth of jewellery was stolen, as well as a VW caravan which was disability-adapted, and a Renault which was parked outside. The keys to both were found inside the Fiat 500,” Mr Wilcock continued.
In a statement, the homeowner said he was in a wheelchair after suffering a spinal injury which paralysed him from the chest down. He said both he and his wife were upset and distressed and no longer felt safe in their own home.
Ahmed was also convicted of another offence of burglary 12 months after in February this year in Romiley. The owner had left his house to drop his grandchildren off at his son’s house when he got an alert on his phone that someone was in his house.
He returned with his son and saw a man inside the house in ‘dark clothing’, who ran to the garden, pursued by both men. He tried to climb over the fence but was grabbed by the man’s son.
During the struggle, he kicked his son to the forehead and was shouting that he was being ‘kidnapped’. He eventually managed to escape, but lost both trainers, one sock and his jogging bottoms in the process.
Both Ali and Ahmed were said to have previous convictions for burglary.
For Shah, Robert Smith said his client was a young man who ‘clearly displayed a sense of immaturity. “He was under the instruction of others,” he said.
“This isn’t a hardened criminal of many years. This is a young man who wants to turn a corner and wants a clean slate.”
And for Shah, Steven Sullivan said his client was using cocaine, amphetamine and cannabis at the time and his life was ‘spiralling out of control’. He said he has been ‘ostracised’ by his family and has since moved to Leeds with his partner to ‘disassociate himself with his previous criminal associates’.
Sentencing, Recorder Mark Ainsworth said: “These items were not just of financial value and sentimental value, but this also left these people with feelings of uncertainty and feeling like they were not safe, and that’s why courts impose lengthy sentences for people who commit these sort of offences.
“You have let down your family, who are thoroughly ashamed of your conduct. You must know the impact you have caused on these poor householder’s that have done nothing to deserve this.”
Ahmed, of HMP Forest Bank, was jailed for three years and ten months; Ali, of Artist Street, Leeds, was jailed for two years and eight months.
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