Walsall man who broke into homes and made off in cars with stolen keys is jailed

Bray Malcom Halls, of Walsall, was sentenced to five years behind bars at Stafford Crown Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to burglary, theft of a car and burglary with intent to steal.

The court heard how Halls, now 20, forced his way into two homes in Uttoxeter and Stafford in November last year.

He took the keys to a Citroen DS3 and an Audi S3 from inside the homes and used them to drive the cars away.

In one of the thefts, Halls also took the keys to a BMW but was disrupted and didn’t manage to drive the car away.

A statement from Staffordshire Police said: "We spoke to both victims, nearby residents and reviewed all the CCTV and doorbell footage available.

"Then we discovered that a suspicious silver BMW had been involved in an attempted car theft nearby. Officers tracked it into the Featherstone area and Halls was found inside.

"After searching him, we found the keys to the BMW and the Audi which had been stolen previously and also linked his clothing to the CCTV images from the thefts.

"He later admitted to the offences in court and was ordered to pay £228 in victim surcharge costs as part of his sentencing."

Detective Inspector Andy Bryan, from CID, said: “Vehicle crime can have a devastating impact on residents and businesses and it’s one of the main reasons why we’re continuing to proactively target those responsible.

“More than 10 individuals have been charged with associated offences in Staffordshire as part of our ongoing commitment to tackle vehicle crime locally.

“I’m happy that we’ve been able to apprehend another offender and I’m hopeful that we can continue to achieve results like this in the near future.”