Suspects 'tried to sell stolen items to police'
Eight suspected members of a criminal gang allegedly responsible for the majority of house break-ins in Daventry have appeared before magistrates charged with conspiring to burgle.
Further details of the covert police operation used to snare the group have been revealed in court as it was alleged the suspects were caught on CCTV and on voice recorders apparently trying to sell stolen property to undercover officers.
Friends of the defendants, who include four youths who cannot be named for legal reasons, had to be removed from the court for laughing as the charges were read out.
Magistrates were told nine of a total of 12 defendants who have been charged following a series of dawn raids across Daventry were all believed to be involved with conspiring to burgle, in relation to 11 house break-ins in three months.
Shaun Sigamoney, prosecuting, said the alleged conspirators had been arrested following a lengthy police investigation.
He added: "These officers are very highly trained, and they rely on being able to build up an element of trust."
He said two covert officers had left calling cards with the alleged burglars, offering to sell on any stolen property. The prosecution would say that days after burglaries were reported in Daventry, stolen goods including televisions, DVDs, games and motorbikes were then offered up.
But Paul Harkins, defending Kieran Vaughan, aged 19, of Furnace Drive, and Tyler Testro, aged 18, of Plough Close, claimed his clients may have been victims of "entrapment" by police.
He added: "We have heard in great length about the police operation which was carried out at great expense. But to the best of my knowledge, there is not one scrap of forensic evidence, not one fingerprint, linking these defendants to those 11 burglaries."
Vaughan and Testro, along with John Smith, aged 20 and of Tennyson Road, and Leon Hinton, aged 23 and of Sundon in Bedfordshire, were remanded.
One 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was alleged to be "the main offender" and "the cog" of the group.
Mr Sigamoney said: "He had direct contact with the test purchase officers on each occasion. On one occasion he was able to negotiate a price with officers despite being in Weston-super-mare at the time. He told the officers his lads would take the money and put his share into his account."
He was remanded, along with a 14-year-old boy who also cannot be named. A 15-year-old boy was remanded into local authority care, while the 16-year-old girl was bailed. All eight of the defendants will now appear before a judge at Northampton Crown Court next month. None entered pleas to the charges they face.
Four more people who have also been charged following the early morning raids are due to appear before magistrates later this month.
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Thursday 09 September 2010
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