Two men have today been sentenced in connection with gold burglary offences across Merseyside.
On Tuesday 28 September this year three separate burglaries were reported on Woolton Road, Woolton; Sandstone Close, Rainhill and Turrif Road, Huyton between 7.30pm and 8.45pm in which high value gold jewellery was taken.
At 10.20pm the same day and following a joint investigation between Merseyside Police and Cheshire Police, Dean Loveridge, 34, of Pringle Street, Rochdale and John Reilly, 30, of Oil Street, Liverpool were arrested in Widnes.
They were later charged with conspiracy to commit burglary.
They appeared at Liverpool Crown Court this week where Loveridge was jailed for six years and Reilly for four years and eight months.
Detective Inspector Tony O’Brien from Operation Castle said, “Burglary is a very personal crime and understandably the victims were left distressed by these incidents, with high-value and often very sentimental pieces of jewellery being stolen.
“Following enquiries and working with our colleagues in Cheshire Police we were able to apprehend Loveridge and Reilly within a matter of hours of the burglaries being carried out.
“This was a particularly difficult enquiry and I am pleased that their sentences reflect the gravity of their offences and they will now spend a considerable period of time behind bars.
“Our enquiries established the pair were targeting specific addresses and I hope that these sentences will reassure our communities that we will react quickly to apprehend people and bring them to justice.
“We have and will continue to work closely with members of the Asian community to offer reassurance and to provide crime prevention and security advice.
“Our Community Engagement Unit has released a collection of crime prevention videos recorded in a selection of Asian languages that share advice on home security and protecting valuables.
“The new videos allow us to easily share crime prevention advice with Merseyside’s Asian community in a variety of languages. In some households, English may not be spoken much, if at all, so we can ensure this important advice reaches people in the language they use every day.”
The videos are hosted on the force’s YouTube channel and are available in the following languages: Bengali, Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Cantonese, Mandarin and English. Leaflets are also available in each respective language, linked in the description of each video.
To help protect your valuables and keep your home secure, follow this advice:
- Don’t leave jewellery or cash on display in your home or even hidden – instead use a bank safety deposit box to store high-value items, or buy a good quality safe and bolt it to a brick wall
- Photograph each item, keep a written description and make sure it is included in your insurance policy
- Use special property marking technology from www.securedbydesign.com
- Be discreet if wearing jewellery or carrying large amounts of cash in public
- Make sure your social media account security settings are ‘high’ or ‘private’
- Keep your windows and doors locked and use a burglar alarm and security lighting
- Be vigilant of unexpected callers or cold-callers offering doorstep services – write down who they said they were, details of any vehicle they were in, and save and back-up any CCTV footage of them
- Join your local Neighbourhood Watch scheme
- Report any suspicious activity, such as being watched or followed, to the police via the website, on social media or by calling 101
More information can be found at: www.merseyside.police.uk/cp/crime-prevention/ 
If you have any information about anyone acting suspiciously in the vicinity of homes or businesses, or being in possession of suspected stolen goods, please contact the social media desk on Twitter @MerPolCC or Facebook ‘Merseyside Police Contact Centre’. You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or pass information via their secure online form at: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/forms/give-information-anonymously
Main image: (L-R) John Reilly and Dean Loveridge
Why not follow birkenhead.news on Facebook and Twitter? You can also send story ideas to news@birkenhead.news
Latest news