Police have revealed a rogue's gallery of thieves they made sure were behind bars in time for Christmas.
A new squad of officers, the City Centre Tasking Team, was set up last November with the objective of tackling the biggest emerging crime threats.
And it is understood a major concern was the number of burglaries occurring at businesses in Manchester city centre.
The M.E.N told in December how dozens of licensed premises in every corner of the city reported break-ins in the space of just a month - from the Northern Quarter to Ancoats to Castlefield and Oxford Road.
A man has been charged in connection with that spree and is due to go on trial in March.
But in the meantime, police were able to identify seven of the burglars they caught between November and December.
All were held on remand in prison, meaning they were prevented from committing further offences during the busy Christmas period.
And all have now entered guilty pleas to burglary offences and been handed hefty prison sentences totalling 15 years and 8 months combined.
It is understood the crackdown has had a 'massive' effect on the number of burglaries reported in the city centre in recent months.
Among those locked up was Aaron Goodman, a 31-year-old from Pendleton in Salford who was described in court as a 'professional' thief.
He was jailed for six years and eight months after admitting nine burgaries.
When police went to arrest him, he attempted to flee via his back garden while wearing a wig.
It is believed Goodman would often wear disguises during his break-ins.
Among the loot he stole from city centre businesses were Apple computers, cameras and laptops worth tens of thousands of pounds.
Inside Goodman's car, police found a number of staff lanyards he'd been using to access buildings, including one with an ITV logo on it.
There was also an axe and Manchester Crown Court heard Goodman told police he had it in case he got into 'trouble' on the roads or with any of his 'enemies'.
He also admitted possession of a bladed article.
Other burglars the team locked up included:
- Rhys Clarke, aged 26, burgled Revolution on Deansgate stealing staff property and DJ equipment. He was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison
- Gavin Bryson admitted seven burglaries at office buildings in the city centre and was sentenced to two years in prison
- Mark Kershaw, 29, burgled Arnero restaurant in the Gay Village and was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison
- Jonathan O'Sullivan, 28, also admitted burgling Arnero restaurant but has yet to be sentenced
- David Raine, 41, admitted stealing electronic equipment during six city centre burglaries. He was sentenced to four years in prison
- John Harper, 38, admitted burgling two city centre businesses and was sentenced to two years in prison
It is understood most of the offenders were committing crime to fund drug habits and are well-known faces in the city centre rough sleeping community.
