Six arrested and charged in new crackdown on crime

SUSPECTED burglars and fraudsters have been arrested and charged as part of a new crackdown on serious acquisitive crime.

SUSPECTED burglars and fraudsters have been arrested and charged as part of a new crime crackdown.

Police in Rotherham have launched a new dedicated policing unit to tackle offences such as burglary, theft and robbery, which aims to gather intelligence and identify patterns of offending.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The team has arrested six suspects in its first month and is said to have made progress in several investigations.

Three men have been charged and remanded into custody in connection with burglaries at a sunbed shop and chip shop in Rotherham town centre and an attempted burglary at Victoria Mini Market in Kilnhurst in the early hours of last Tuesday.

Adam Clayton (31), of no fixed abode; Lee Evans (34), of Rother Street, Brampton Bierlow; and Joe Concannon, 34, of Midland Road, Rotherham, have all been charged with two counts of burglary and one of attempted burglary.

They will next appear in court on December 10.

The team has also been investigating a series of "bogus official" cases in which two women targeted victims’ homes between October 25 and 31 and tricked them before stealing belongings.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Toni Machin (32) of Guild Road, East Dene, has been charged with two counts of burglary and one count of fraud in connection with the incidents, and Natasha Elliott (29), of no fixed abode, has been charged with one count of fraud.

Both women have been remanded in custody.

Jack Bentley (26) was arrested last Friday in connection with offences committed in Rotherham in May this year.

Bentley, of Orchard Flatts Crescent, Rotherham, has been charged with two counts of burglary and one count of robbery.

Det Insp Lee Wilson, who leads the unit, said: “We know how harmful burglary and robbery is to communities and it’s an area where people consistently tell us they want to see action taken.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I hope the formation of the team reassures residents in businesses in Rotherham that we do take these crimes incredibly seriously.”

There is already a similar team in Sheffield named Operation Furnace.

Related topics: