Two men jailed for Bolton burglary

Two Bolton burglars, who were arrested minutes after stealing a car from a house in February 2020, have been jailed as part of an operation tackling vehicle theft in Greater Manchester.

Sam Worthington (25/06/1992) of Almond Street, Farnworth, and Kevin Lee Derbyshire (05/07/1990) of Chorley New Road, Bolton, were sentenced today (Thursday 7 May 2020) at Bolton Crown Court to two years and eight months and two years and four months respectively after being convicted of the theft of a car from an address on Hereford Road.

Operation Dynamo – a force-wide exercise formed to tackle car thefts by means of residential burglaries – was launched by the Bolton division in mid-February after a series of incidents in the area.

Police on patrol in unmarked cars in the early hours of Friday 21 February were called to reports of a car theft on Hereford Road shortly before 4am and proceeded to search for the stolen vehicle.

The court heard how Worthington and Derbyshire had broken into the address to steal the keys to the car – a Nissan Quashi – before making off towards Bolton Town Centre.

One of the officers spotted the Nissan and proceeded to track the car and report its movements to fellow officers as it headed towards Deansgate.

Response officers in marked cars joined the shadowing of the Nissan and travelled at normal speeds, waiting for their moment to act.

Once the Nissan stopped at traffic lights at the junction with Knowsley Street, the two marked cars moved around the side of the unmarked vehicle and to surround the stolen car.

Worthington attempted to reverse into the unmarked car before trying to make off, however only managed to collide into a bollard before he and Derbyshire were ultimately arrested, and the vehicle and other stolen property was recovered.

The pair were later charged and pleaded guilty to burglary and theft of a motor vehicle before today’s sentencing.

Worthington also pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, assault of an emergency worker and two counts of possession of controlled drug (class A and class B).

Inspector Nicola Williams, of GMP’s Bolton District, said: “This was an exemplary piece of proactive work that was carried out by our officers on patrol that night as part of Operation Dynamo, which has resulted in two dangerous men being prevented from offending further.

“The success of this operation is demonstrated by a significant reduction in reports of residential burglaries across Bolton since its inception earlier this year and we are keen to ensure we maintain this momentum to keep Bolton safe from this type of crime.

“Having your car stolen can have a devastating effect and I hope the public can take reassurance from this case that we are listening to their concerns and are actively seeking to tackle it to try and protect the community from further such offences.

“While we take great satisfaction from this job and today’s verdict, our hard work across the force continues to target criminals who operate in this way and I urge people to continue to take vigilant steps to try and prevent them becoming a victim of this type of crime themselves.”