Detectives from Operation Castle, our forcewide response to burglary offences, are welcoming the sentencing of a Manchester man to prison for family gold burglary offences in 2019.
29-year-old George Price of Ainsley Street, Manchester was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison earlier this week at Liverpool Crown Court after being convicted to three burglaries, in which victims were targeted for high-value jewellery items.
The first offence took place on Wednesday 4 September 2019 at a home in West Derby. Entry was gained to a house while the occupants were out and jewellery and cash were stolen. The second offence took place on Tuesday 8 October 2019, also in West Derby. Entry was forced to a house but offenders made off upon being disturbed by the occupiers. The third offence took place on Friday 11 October 2019 at an address in Widnes, Cheshire. Access was gained to a house and a search carried out but no items were stolen.
Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Inspector Steve Ball said: “It is pleasing to see that Price has been dealt with this week, and should act as a strong deterrent to anyone else who would consider targeting homes in such an abhorrent way. These offences took place during the day and caused a great deal of distress to all the victims but hopefully the verdict offers some comfort.
“If you do keep valuable jewellery or other items in your home, there are some steps you can take to make yourself and your home more secure. Please share these as far and wide as you can.”
Remove jewellery from your house altogether, so if you are a victim your valuable items won’t be stolen. Keep all gold, jewellery and other valuables in a safety deposit box
If you would prefer to keep gold and jewellery at home, buy a safe, which complies with official insurance rating standards and is secured to a wall or to the floor
You can visit: www.securedbydesign.com – a Home Office approved website to find approved security products with ‘Police Preferred Specification’ status
List your phone as ex-directory
Take photos and keep a list of all valuable property in a safe place, including make, model description and value
Forensically mark items of value which offer a hi-tech way of linking your property to your address, options available are – Selecta DNA / Smartwater
Consider your online privacy settings and password strength on any social media platforms and be aware of anything that may identify that you are away from your home, or that you store high-value items at home
Don’t post that you are away from home on holiday or business until you return, including photos
Carry out an online search on your own name and address. Did you find anything linking the two, or to other locations?
Further advice on keeping your home secure can be found here: https://www.merseyside.police.uk/cp/crime-prevention/residential-burglary/
Detective Inspector Ball continued: “We regularly act on information from those communities affected, so come forward if you know anything about suspected burglary and the sale of stolen goods where you are. We’ll act on all information provided. Due to the focussed activity of Operation Castle and the impact of COVID, burglary offences have decreased across Merseyside this year, and we’ll continue to work proactively with communities and our partners to keep this progress going.”
Always call 999 if a burglary is in progress. Anyone with information on burglary is asked to contact our dedicated hotline and email address on 0151 777 7926 or operation.castle@merseyside.pnn.police.uk. You can also pass information to the social media desk @MerPolCC, call 101 or you can call or the independent charity @CrimestoppersUK anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
