A Keighley man received jail after stealing phones worth £60,000 from stores in Carlisle and Workington using e-bikes.
Brogden received a three-and-a-half-year jail term. The crime happened early July 23 last year. The men broke into the CEX store in Carlisle, smashing a window at Scotch Street.
They stole around £30,000 in phones. Then, they rode away on electric bikes. Brogden and Walton drove from Bradford in a Fiat. The van had fake license plates and they abandoned it after stealing phones.
Brogden and Walton hit another CEX store, this one on Pow Street in Workington. Again, about £30,000 in phones vanished. They used laundry bags and e-bikes to flee back to the same Fiat van, which now had different cloned plates.
Police used Briefcam to ID the suspects. This system speeds up reviewing CCTV footage, helping track Brogden and Walton in Workington. CCTV caught them buying the laundry bags they used in the theft.
The system also traced them in Carlisle, showing them wearing clothes from Workington. They were seen before each burglary at both stores.
PC Ryan Thwaite spoke about their planning, stating they used e-bikes to avoid police, then the van with the cloned plates. CCTV linked the pair to walking around town.
He stated it was targeting Cumbra stores. He added it was a planned effort, and a warning to criminals that they’d face investigation and prosecution.