UK COMPUTER THIEVES CAUGHT ON WEBCAMWebcam antics of thieves land them in courtWebcam antics of thieves land them in court
Neal Keeling


A GANG of dozy computer thieves put themselves in the frame.

They filmed each other after committing one of a series burglaries, then stored the footage ... on one of the stolen computers.

When the PC was recovered by police investigating a string of 27 thefts, it did not take long for detectives to check the memory and to identify the dim-witted crooks. Three members of the four-strong Salford-based team were captured peering into the lens of a webcam, and one is even seen wearing the gloves and jacket he wore to commit a raid.

Yesterday, at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court, Judge Stuart Fish sentenced them to a total of almost eight years after all four admitted their involvement in the spree of burglaries on businesses based mainly in Salford Quays and Manchester.

Conspiracies

Steven Hookway, 23, of St Ambrose Gardens, Langworthy, was sentenced to three and a half years for four offences. Jay Pollard, 26, of Parish View, Ordsall, was given 21 months for three offences. Brendan Heeney, 21, of Woden's Avenue, Ordsall, had his sentence deferred for three months on two offences while Gavin Noakes, 25, of McCready Drive, Ordsall, pleaded guilty to six offences and was given two and a half years.

Judge Fish said: "These were not spur of the moment burglaries but conspiracies that were pre-planned. It all amounts to a quite serious matter for which realistically you can expect custodial sentences.''

Police launched Operation Hoddleston in November 2003 after obtaining intelligence about the gang.

Officers pursued the men after they raided the British Telecom building in Medlock Street, Manchester, last December.

Three of them were arrested at Noakes's home and the fourth a few days later.

As well as stolen computer kit containing video footage of the gang, two framed and signed Manchester United shirts which had been taken in a raid on a company at The Quays were also recovered. The value of the goods stolen was estimated to be £100,000.

The gang's crime spree started in July last year when they broke into a computer company in Heaton Chapel. They then struck at firms in Salford Quays three times. Salford City Learning Centre, at Irlams o' th' Height, was raided and Pendleton College in November last year. All the break ins were in the early hours.

But on November 25 last year they terrified staff at First Choice travel company in Peel Cross, Ordsall, when they smashed through windows into the building at 5pm. The next day they broke into Employment Law Advisory Services based in Eccles and, 24 hours later, BT in Medlock Street.

When they returned to the BT building to commit a second raid, police were waiting.

Det Sgt Steve Edge, said: "They were not driven by dependency on drugs - it was what they did as a job. Their arrest was hugely important because of the affect they were having on the local business community in Manchester and Salford.

"This is the culmination of an extensive police operation that has taken four prolific burglars off the streets."

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Computer thieves put themselves in the frame