Two burglars who forced their way into electrical shops in Carlisle and Workington before stealing £57,000-worth of mobile phones and other items, have been handed jail terms.
Stewart Walton, 43, and 40-year-old accomplice Liam Brogden travelled from the West Yorkshire area in a Fiat van fitted with false number plates before committing their crimes in the dead of night last summer.
Carlisle Crown Court heard the duo parked up the van away from their intended shop targets, before cycling to them on electric bikes.
CCTV footage captured the pair on July 23 last year carrying a heavy drain cover, metal security fence base and a stone before breaking the window of Carlisle’s CeX store on Scotch Street.
Once inside, they snatched mobile phones valued at £27,000 before fleeing the premises.
Walton and Brogden were back in Cumbria three nights later, on July 26, when a car jack was used in an attempt to force shutters on the CeX shop on Pow Street in Workington.
The intruders succeeded only in moving the shutters 30 inches and, the court heard, it was presumed that access was gained via a side window.
Walton and Brogden made off with £30,000-worth of goods which included mobile phones, laptops, iPads and a keyboard.
Roadside cameras caught the pair making their way back to the Bradford area after both raids. Nether the loot or their van was ever recovered.
Both shops are franchises, with responsibility falling to those on the ground.
Detectives used the Briefcam System which is an object-focused analytical capability that allows officers to search tens or even hundreds of hours of CCTV footage in a fraction of the time it would have taken a police officer.
The system was used to search CCTV in Carlisle and Workington for distinctive clothing Brogden and Walton were wearing, specifically a distinctive cap worn by Brogden.
This allowed officers to see their movements in Workington town centre before the burglary, and track their movements into two local business, who were able to provide CCTV footage, from which the pair were identified.
Brogden and Walton were caught on CCTV purchasing two bags labelled laundry used in the burglary.
The system was also used to capture their movements in Carlisle and showed them wearing the same distinctive clothing as in Workington.
The Workington store manager had spoken about the aftermath. “He lost two members of staff because of the stress caused by the impact of the burglary. The store had to shut for a day, costing £3,000,” said prosecutor Brendan Burke.
Father-of-five Walton, of Percy Street, Keighley, and Brogden, also a dad, of Dawson Mount, Bradford, were brought to court and both admitted two commercial burglary charges.
They were described by the prosecutor, during their sentencing hearing this morning, as professional burglars.
Brogden was said by his barrister to be extremely remorseful, recognising the impact his offending was having on immediate family members.
Career burglar Walton, said his lawyer, was keen to put his offending behind him, as he had for a period in the past before relapsing.
Heavily-convicted Walton was given a five-year prison sentence, while Brogden received a term of three years seven months.
“This is a planned escapade, covering two premises over a matter of three days,” said Judge Michael Fanning as he passed sentence. “Each burglary required a high degree of planning and significant organisation.”
Police constable Ryan Thwaite of Cumberland CID, who investigated the case, added: “This was a planned attempt to target stores in Cumbria, we hope this acts as a warning to those intent on travelling to Cumbria to commit crime that we will investigate and work with our neighbouring force to put them before the courts to face prosecution.”
