BURGLARY

Please be advised that between Wednesday 3 July and Wednesday 24 July 2019 offenders have broken into a garage at Common Lane, Kenilworth by using an angel grinder to remove the locks. Once inside the offenders have stolen 2 bicycles, a “Specialized” rock hopper bike colour red and white and a “Trek” Marlin 4 colour blue and silver. 

This is incident 166 of 24 July 2019

THEFT

Please be aware that at some point during Tuesday 24 July 2019 up until 22.30hrs offenders havew stolen a Black and Blue Mountain Bike from which was secured to bicycle bars at Randall Road, Kenilworth.

This is incident 485 of 24 July 2019

BURGLARY

Offenders have broken into a garage at Cromwell Lane, Burton Green, Kenilworth overnight between Wednesday 24 July and Thursday 25 July 2019. The offenders removed a window to the garage and threw it into an adjacent field. It is not clear at this stage what, if anything, has been taken.

This is incident 102 of 25 July 2019

CRIMINAL DAMAGE

Overnight between 20.00hrs on Wednesday 24 July and 09.00hrs Thursday 25 July 2019 offenders have damaged the fencing to a property at Cromwell Lane, Burton Green, Kenilworth. The offenders have then entered the property grounds but were unable to access the property.

This is incident 116 of 25 July 2019

If you think you may have heard or seen anything suspicious or have any information about any of these incidents then please contact Warwickshire Police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111

THREE OFFENDERS INVOLVED IN A STRING OF OVER 30 CAR KEY BURGLARIES AND BURGLARIES IN SOUTH WARWICKSHIRE HAVE BEEN JAILED FOR A TOTAL OF OVER 47 YEARS. 

A number of offences took place in villages which included Lapworth, Rowington, Preston Bagot, Lowsonford, Pinley, Henley in Arden, Ullenhall, Tanworth in Arden, Wilmcote, Great Alne, Shelfield, and Butlers Marston.

Three men, Roshan Singh, John Whitehouse and Kadim Shah have been jailed for conspiring to commit over 30 burglaries which included guns being stolen and sold on to criminal gangs in Birmingham following a West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) investigation.

Shah, Shorthouse and Singh repeatedly travelled to rural areas in Warwickshire, Worcestershire and South Birmingham, breaking into homes and stealing high value items such as cars, watches and – in some locations – legitimately owned shotguns. A number of the shotguns were recovered in the West Midlands area and it’s thought they were being supplied to organised crime groups across the region.

Inspector Dave Kettle of Warwickshire Police said “The offences in Warwickshire were unsophisticated and frightening in nature, whereby those responsible were wearing balaclavas and smashing their way in to properties usually in the middle of the day. They were also seemingly unconcerned with whether anyone was actually in the property at the time and willing to confront anyone who was”.

A number of the shotguns were recovered in the West Midlands area and it’s thought they were being supplied to organised crime groups across the region.

In December last year, Maher Ali of Vaughton Street, Birmingham, was jailed for two years and three months for possession of a firearm after being stopped in a Volkswagen Golf on 6 November in Birmingham in possession of a stolen Beretta shotgun.

The gun was later identified as being stolen in a burglary in Wilmcote, Warwickshire earlier that day; a burglary that the trio were responsible for. Ali was linked to 29-year-old Singh after he was seen getting out of Singh’s Vauxhall Astra just before being stopped with the stolen shotgun.

Only days after Ali’s arrest, during a different operation, a sawn-off shotgun and large quantities of class A drugs were recovered from the boot of a car in Stirchley, which was identified as being stolen in a burglary on 2 November in Warwickshire that the three were responsible for. Just last week (Monday 8 July) Shaun Barnhurst and Remi Carty were jailed for 15 years each for offences including possession of this gun.

On a separate occasion later that month, another VW Golf was found alongside a Ford Connect van in Yardley Wood, near to 23-year-old Shorthouse’s home. The car had been stolen a week earlier in Redditch and three shotguns which were seized from the car were also stolen during a different burglary earlier that day.

After recognising the surge in burglaries in Warwickshire and Worcestershire, where it is estimated over £700,000 worth of goods was taken, officers from ROCU worked with teams in Warwickshire and West Mercia and an investigation was launched. Three criminal associates were quickly identified – Shorthouse, Singh and Shah – all operating out of Birmingham and travelling to Warwickshire and Worcestershire to commit the offences.

On 12 December 2018, a ram raid at Co- op in Earlswood saw the group use a car to drag a cash machine from the premises, the ATM was later found in in Calthorpe Park, Balsall Heath smashed open with an estimated £40,000 cash taken. Police also recovered a stolen Land Rover and Mercedes van used in the Co- op raid.

In collaboration with regional forces, the trio were all arrested in December last year after intelligence-led warrants were executed at their home addresses. A considerable amount of stolen property, balaclavas, tools and weapons were recovered from all three homes and around £4,000 worth of cocaine was also found in Shorthouse’s family address.

Following their arrests, CCTV and clothing linked the three to further offences, and phone analysis between the group revealed a picture of their criminal enterprise. Property recovered was able to link them to a burglary back in March 2018 but evidence gathered showed the groups offending started to rapidly increase from August 2018.

In total police were able to link the trio to 30 separate burglaries and two robberies as well as the ram-raid at the Co- op .

All three men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to burgle, two counts of robbery and possession of firearms. Shorthouse also pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply cocaine and both him and Shah pleaded guilty to driving whilst disqualified. They were sentenced on Tuesday 23 July 2019 to a total of 47 years and 10 months in prison.

Their sentences are:

• Roshan Singh of South Acre Avenue, Birmingham has been jailed for 16 years
• John Shorthouse of Greenford Road, Yardley, has been jailed for 16 years 8 months
• Kadim Shah, of Lewis Road, Stirchley, has been jailed for 15 years 2 months

Chief Inspector Ronan Tyrer, from the Regional Organised Crime Unit, said: “We have successfully put three very dangerous men behind bars and in doing so, we are helping to reduce the supply of weapons being transported from other areas of the country into Birmingham.

“We want to reassure the public we are doing all we can to tackle this kind of crime. The offences were unsophisticated and frightening, where these men turned up wearing balaclavas and smashed their way into properties in broad daylight. We’re currently in the process of reuniting recovered items with their owners.
“Our work on this case was intelligence-led, and we would like to thank members of the public for their continued support and for the information they provided, which assisted us with these convictions.”

Inspector Dave Kettle added: “Hopefully today’s outcome will reassure our communities that Warwickshire Police take offences of this nature very seriously and will work with our border forces to investigate offences and ensure those responsible are bought to justice for their actions.”

More details and photographs etc are available at this link:

https://www.west-midlands.police.uk/news/three-jailed-after-stealing-shotguns-string-burglaries

CAR KEY BURGLARY

Please be aware that between 00.30hrs and 01.30hrs on Sunday 21 July 2019 offenders have punched the locks of a home at De Montfort Road, Kenilworth and entered the property while the occupants were asleep upstairs. Once inside the offenders have located the keys to a white BMW vehicle parked on the drive of the property. The offenders have then stolen the BMW motor vehicle.

This is incident 45 of 21 July 2019

GARDEN SHED BURGLARY

Please be aware that 3 garden sheds were broken into in the rear garden of a property at Cromwell Lane, Burton Green, Kenilworth between Saturday 20 July and Monday 22 July 2019. It is not clear at this stage what, if anything, has been stolen.

This is incident 474 of 22 July 2019

CAR KEY BURGLARY

Please beware that between 12.45hrs and 13.15hrs on Tuesday 23 July 2019 offenders broke into a property at Hodgetts Lane, Burton Green, Kenilworth. Once inside the property the offenders have located the keys for a Black Vauxhall Insignia that was parked on the drive of the property. Consequently, the Vauxhall Insignia motor vehicle was stolen.

This is incident 202 of 23 July 2019

CRIMINAL DAMAGE

Between Friday 19 July and Sunday 21 July 2019 offenders have scratched the complete length of the passenger side of a black Citroen C4 motor vehicle that was parked in Woodland Road, Kenilworth.

This is incident 173 of 21 July 2019

If you believe you may have seen or heard anything suspicious or have any information about any of these incidents then please contact Warwickshire Police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111

A WARWICKSHIRE policeman who saved a man’s life by bearing the weight of a crashed car which was dangerously leaking fuel has been given a national award.

PC Andrew Dear, of Warwickshire Police, was named the overall winner at the Police Bravery Awards, in London.

PC Dear squeezed into a 10in (25.4cm) gap to maintain the airway of the injured man and reassure him after he was first on the crash scene on the A5.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid described his bravery as “truly extraordinary”.

PC Dear was among eight regional winners at the Police Federation of England and Wales’ event.

The federation heard PC Dear found the man trapped under the roof of the car which had been ripped in half and was leaking fuel and risked bursting into flames.

The man was badly bleeding and drifting in and out of consciousness and the officer supported him until paramedics arrived.

PC Dear said he had thought about the injured man’s family at the time of the rescue.

“Knowing what his family would probably be thinking had he not made it – knowing somebody was there with him when he was injured, trapped – that means everything,” he said.

The regional winners included PC Ian Sweeney and his dog Logan, from Humberside Police who were the North East’s winners. The pair caught a stabbing suspect despite him repeatedly shooting them with a gas-powered pellet gun.

In the South West, PC Agata Makowska, of Devon and Cornwall Police, was awarded for rescuing an unconscious man from a fire.

Before the ceremony, the award nominees attended a Downing Street reception where Prime Minister Theresa May praised officers’ “everyday acts of heroism” and thanked them for their service.