Two burglars who stole vehicles from the driveway of a house in Deal have been sentenced.
Ellis McKeown was charged with and later admitted burglary and two counts of attempted burglary following an investigation by Kent Police’s Chief Constable’s Crime Squad.
At Canterbury Crown Court on Friday 4 March 2022, McKeown, 24, of Stapleton Avenue, Liverpool, was jailed for two and a half years.
Another man, Marcus Jones, 20, of Torrington Drive, Liverpool, was given a 20-month sentence, suspended for two years, for his involvement in the same offences.
Offences
On Friday 18 June 2021, a resident in Deal saw men in her driveway at around 4.30am. Attempts were also made to get into another property nearby at around the same time.
A property in the Sholden area was then broken into, the keys to three vehicles were taken from inside and the vehicles were stolen.
An investigation was launched and the vehicles were tracked as having been driven towards East Sussex.
Two days later, Sussex Police attended a property in Fairlight and found one of the stolen vehicles, which had by that time been fitted with false number plates.
Arrests
CCTV footage from around the property was examined and the stolen vehicle was seen with four people nearby.
An officer from Kent Police’s Chief Constable’s Crime Squad recognised two of those seen in the footage as McKeown and Jones, having encountered them on previous occasions.
The pair were traced and Jones was arrested in Liverpool in August that year and McKeown was arrested in Wolverhampton the following month.
McKeown’s sentence included a six-month term for a dangerous driving offence in the West Midlands.
Protecting victims
Kent Police’s Detective Sergeant Jay Robinson said: ‘Burglaries have a big impact on people’s feeling of safety in their own home, as well as the inconvenience of replacing stolen and expensive items or being without the use of vehicles.
‘Kent Police is therefore committed to investigating all offences reported to us and will always work to bring offenders to justice.
‘A swift and thorough investigation into these offences led to one of the vehicles being traced and the suspects later being identified and arrested.
‘I hope the sentences handed down mean other residents of Kent, and elsewhere in the country, are spared the attentions of these two burglars.’
DS Jay Robinson