Gang who burgled Yorkshire homes for keys to top-of-range cars jailed

The Bradford men were jailed for between four and five years each yesterday after raiding homes across North and West Yorkshire, breaking in and stealing the keys to vehicles while their owners were asleep.

Two other Bradford men, who had posed for mobile phone photographs with a stolen £70,000 Audi R8, were also jailed after they admitted being involved in a conspiracy to handle stolen vehicles.

One of the “handlers”, Saqib Salam, 24, of Lilycroft Road, the son of a magistrate who has subsequently stood down from his position, was jailed for 18 months.

Prosecutor Nadeem Bashir told Bradford Crown Court that the gang was involved in a series of burglaries at homes in places including Bradford, Wakefield, Castleford, Halifax and York between July and November 2010.

The vehicles would then be stripped of their tracking devices and number plates and their serial numbers replaced, before being sold on.

There has been a worrying rise of so-called “two-in-one” burglaries in recent years, with some of Yorkshire’s most exclusive postcodes being targeted.

Sentencing the men, Judge Peter Benson said: “Burglaries are offences that cause untold upset and misery. People feel the sense of invasion in their own home, particularly if they are occupying them at the time.

“These are serious offences that must attract a significant custodial sentence.”

Daniel Burns, 35, of Ley Top Lane, and Andrew De Angelis, 24, of St Enoch’s Road, were jailed for five years each after admitting conspiracy to burgle.

Sohail Bham, 35, of Beldon Road, was jailed for four-and-a-half years and Samuel Pearson, 31, of Sticker Lane, was sentenced to four years and nine months after admitting the same charge.

Adheel Hussain, 29, of Agar Street, was jailed for 33 months.