A trio of robbers who restrained a disabled pensioner, knife-wielding thieves and calculated burglars were among those jailed for more than 91 years by a single Kent Police team in one month.
The high-harm criminals were each targeted by the Chief Constable’s Crime Squad and were locked up for 91 years and six months between them in March 2022.
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Across the same month, the proactive unit also made 20 new arrests, carried out 21 warrants and received authority to issue 112 charges.
Detective Chief Inspector Matt Talboys, who leads the team, said: ‘The figures achieved in March are an astounding testament to my teams’ expertise but, more importantly, they show that victims of crime are getting the justice they deserve.
‘Our team is unique as we often take on a case from the point of an offence being committed right through to the court room.
‘We have plain-clothed officers on the street, detectives who specialise in proactive investigations, an analyst who is able to review crime trends as they happen and officers who have received training to force entry into an offender’s home and target them when they least suspect it.
‘This incredible range of specialisms is helping us consistently achieve good figures, with every outcome we achieve making our communities safer.’
DCI Matt Talboys
Among the offenders jailed last month are two men who were involved in a failed knife-point robbery at a Rochester business. During the offence, a woman was threatened in front of young children.
Despite their sophisticated planning, Crime Squad detectives were able to unravel the crime by scrutinising a wealth of evidence from ANPR cameras, CCTV, mobile phone data and witness testimony.
This led to both men being detained during warrants at their personal addresses, and they are now serving seven years in prison between them.
Robust action was also taken against three burglars who targeted a Swanscombe home and assaulted an elderly, and disabled, woman who lived at the address. She was also held against her will by the offenders, while her property was ransacked.
Painstaking detective work led to the Crime Squad identifying the three offenders, and last month they were jailed for 16 years between them.
Equally robust action led to a Sheerness man receiving a seven-year prison sentence after he admitted his role in a series of robberies which targeted victims inside their own homes on the Isle of Sheppey.
Two co-offenders for these robberies previous received 14 years between them.
Also jailed was a man who got more than four years’ imprisonment for robbing Gillingham shop staff at knifepoint, a thief who will serve two years for stealing a high value statue from an Ashford home and a car key burglar who will serve 20 months after he stole a vehicle from a home in Deal.
In addition to securing these outcomes, the Crime Squad has also made significant progress in a number of other investigations which are now going through the court process.
This includes charging a Gravesend man with 46 separate theft offences, which include burglary, following incidents reported in residential areas primarily in the Riverview Park estate.
Three men who are alleged to have burgled homes across Sevenoaks, Dartford, Loughton and Bexley were also each charged with six offences.
A conspiracy to steal charge was also authorised against a man who is alleged to have been involved in 11 burglaries across Whitstable, Faversham, Herne Bay, Aylesham and Ash.
All of the charged people mentioned have been remanded in custody ahead of future court dates.