JAILED: Couple behind burglary spree where over £50K worth of cars stolen
A couple who committed a string of burglaries together, where over £50,000 of cars were stolen, have been jailed.
Partners Navarone McIntosh , 28 and Michaela Martin, 30, were convicted at Birmingham Crown Court on 22 February after the court heard that the pair had broken into houses in the dead of night to steal cars, cash and electrical items.
Their crime spree came to an end when detectives linked them to 12 burglaries that had been committed between June to October 2014 across Smethwick, Great Barr and Small Heath.
They were caught after Martin's car was filmed on CCTV leaving the scene of a burglary. When she was questioned she denied any involvement, but couldn't explain why she was driving around the area in the early hours.
In one burglary at Whitehall Road on October, 20, 2014, the couple stole a handbag containing credit cards which they used hours later at Argos and Footlocker in Perry Barr to buy games consoles and clothes.
Martin from Thornhill Road, Handsworth and Mcintosh from Rectory Grove, Winson Green stole cars worth over £50,000.
When officers searched Martin's Handsworth home they found computers that were traced back to the burglaries.
Martin was found guilty of 11 burglaries, seven thefts of motor vehicles and two frauds and was jailed for four years.
McIntosh was convicted of five burglaries and four theft of motor vehicles. He was jailed for four years and received another four years that will run consecutively for two robberies that he committed at Virginia Baguette, Yardley Road, Acocks Green on 13 April 2014.
PC Sam Price, from Birmingham's Investigation Team, said: "We are pleased with the sentencing which means that two people responsible for a crime spree are now safely behind bars.
"The pair felt they were above the law, breaking into houses in the night to steal keys so they could steal cars and valuables.
"This is while people were sleeping, one victim had just come back from Afghanistan where she had been working as a nurse.
"The pair used crime to fund their lifestyle and we hope that the sentencing will offer some comfort to the families who were affected.
"This was a long standing investigation and the officers involved were determined to bring these two to justice, they worked tirelessly to unearth enough evidence which proved vital in convicting them."
