A young teenager and two adults have been sentenced for a series of burglaries that took place in London, Surrey and Kent between June and September last year.
The 13-year-old boy, who was 12 at the time of the crimes and cannot be named for legal reasons, staged a series of distractions to gain entry to the victims’ homes , while 39-year-old Michael Doran stole jewellery, cash and bank cards.
In one such incident, the trio gained access to a 60-year-old disabled man’s home by pretending that the boy needed to retrieve a toy from his garden. While the man took the boy to his back garden, Doran snuck upstairs unnoticed. However, when the man returned, he found Doran rifling through his things and shouted at him. The pair escaped in a car driven by Geraldine Ward (36), with a Rotary Monza watch worth over £300 and £400 in cash.
The burglary, along with 48 others, was investigated by the Lewisham Borough Burglary Unit. Their suspicions were aroused when Ward was seen driving her companions to commit another burglary, this time under the pretext of needing a pen and paper.
CCTV evidence showing Doran and the boy in the vicinity of a burglary on July 14th was also seized, despite Doran’s attempts to mask his appearance. Other CCTV evidence showed Ward attempting to withdraw cash with a stolen ATM card.
All three were arrested on September 3rd 2013 after a number of the victims identified them. They were sentenced on Tuesday at Woolwich Crown Court; Doran was sentenced to 9 years imprisonment, Ward was given 3 years imprisonment and the 13 year old boy was sentenced to a 12 months rehabilitation and handed a supervision order.
One of the investigating officers, Detective Constable Kerry Townley stated: “This was a very complex investigation and was very much a team effort with Operation Drummer (our proactive burglary unit) working together to bring about this result. The sentence handed down today is a good result and whilst it reflects the seriousness of the offences committed we very much hope that the 13-year-old boy is rehabilitated and does not come to our notice again. We hope that he does change his life for the better.”
