Blackburn’s Shujun Miah has been ordered to pay back £89,000

All three men were jailed for a total of 25 years for their roles in stealing the cars worth more than £250,000 in total as well as cash and jewellery.

During sentencing, further thefts, which pre-dated a police investigation, were also taken into consideration, bringing the total value of goods stolen by the gang members to more than £500,000.

Following a trial at Preston Crown Court taxi driver Shujun Miah, 34, of Rawsthorne Avenue, Blackburn, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to commit theft of motor vehicles. He was sentenced to eight years.

Michael Gallagher, 32, of Falkland Street, Liverpool, was also found guilty of the same offences and sentenced to eight years.

Daniel Deens, 32, of Roughwood Drive, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to the same offences and was sentenced to nine years and four months after admitting to further offences which were taken into consideration by the judge when handing out his sentence. 

The court heard how Miah used his private hire car to transport the trio around over a four-week period in February and March 2019, mainly targeting properties with high-performance cars parked outside.

A total of nine cars, including Audis and Volkswagen Golfs, were stolen from addresses in Darwen, Wilpshire, Chorley, Preston, Leyland and Walton-le-Dale, as well as a number in North Wales. Several other cars and properties were targeted during the period, including two in one night, but were unsuccessful after the gang were disturbed by burglar alarms.

The gang used specialised equipment to snap locks and gain entry to homes to steal car keys, as well as using a technique known as “fishing” to hook keys through letterboxes.

Registration plates were then doctored on the stolen vehicles in an attempt to avoid detection.

Officers investigating the burglaries analysed telephone records, CCTV and ANPR data to track the group’s movements and link all of the offences.

During the investigation parts from a number of the stolen cars were discovered at ‘chop shops’ in Nelson and Merseyside. Several of the stolen cars have never been recovered.

Jewellery and cash were also reported stolen during the burglaries.

Shortly after midnight on March 15, 2019, officers stopped a taxi driven by Miah and arrested him along with Gallagher at the scene.

Deens, who is thought to have run off from the taxi, was subsequently arrested in Merseyside following a country-wide appeal for his arrest.

Following a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing at Burnley Crown Court on Thursday (May 25), Miah, who benefitted from the operation to the tune of £145,964, was ordered to pay £89,250 in compensation by August 24.