Police put three burglars back behind bars after officers identified them as carrying out a house break-in while on licence from prison for burglary. Police recognised Kian Jones, alongside his accomplices Jordan Smith and Christopher Madden, from CCTV following the burglary in Birmingham last September.
Jones managed to gain access to the address in Southam Road, Hall Green, while Smith and Madden were lookouts. However, the trio were disturbed by the homeowner and fled empty-handed.
Officers identified all three men from the CCTV and promptly arrested Jones and Madden – but Smith went to ground. But there was no hiding place as we acted upon fresh information to trace and arrest him in November.
Jones, aged 20, of Yardley Wood Road, Billesley, pleaded guilty to burglary and was jailed for two years and four months at Birmingham Crown Court on Wednesday (29 April). Smith, 23, of York Road, Hall Green, and Madden, 22, of Lakefield Close, Hall Green, were convicted following a trial. They were sentenced to three-and-a-half years imprisonment each.
Jones and Smith had been on licence following a burglary they committed together, with Madden on licence for a separate burglary offence. DC Jennifer Horobin, from force CID, said: “Although Jones was the one who went inside the address we were able to prove how Smith and Madden were equally culpable of burglary.
“They acted together and although they fled empty-handed this was still a violation of the occupier’s privacy, and a frightening situation seeing an intruder in their own home. “Hopefully these three will learn the errors of their ways this time, and that a repeat of their criminal ways will only lead to them spending more time behind bars.”