Five men have been jailed for a combined total of more than 30 years for a £500,000 burglary spree across Greater Manchester, with CCTV footage showing them raiding family homes.
The gang, described by police as a 'persistent burglary network', targeted 'affluent households' across Salford, Bury and Trafford between January 2024 and May 2025. Masked burglars smashed down doors and windows to access homes, with most break-ins taking place in daylight when the gang believed properties would be empty.
CCTV evidence captures raids
Footage recorded at a house on Drywood Avenue in Salford captures two men carrying a TV across a back garden before their escape. At another property, on Haddon Road in Eccles, Salford, three masked burglars are caught struggling to carry a safe they plundered from inside.
Other CCTV shows one burglar shinning up a wall onto a flat roof, as his accomplice waits below, before jumping back down in a break-in bid that appears to have been abandoned. Additional footage shot on a mobile phone shows gang members in a car posing with wads of cash.
Children forced to hide
GMP said that in one burglary, a child hid inside a wardrobe while crooks searched a bedroom. In another break-in, another child ran to a bathroom to hide as they tried to get inside. In total, more than £500,000 of property was taken, including family gold and jewellery, designer handbags and other valuable goods.
Police also recovered key evidence from mobile phones, with messages revealing gold and jewellery being advertised for sale. One message read: "Got over a kilo of 22 karat straight g."
Sentencing at Manchester Crown Court
At Manchester Crown Court on Friday, September 4, the five men were sentenced. David Owen, 24, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to five years and four months for nine counts of burglary. Luca Staines, 20, of HMP Forest Bank, was jailed for the same period for 15 counts of burglary.
Liam Dodds, 34, of Cheadle Avenue, Salford, got six years and four months in relation to eight counts of burglary. Wayne Jones, 23, of Dunedin Drive, Salford, was jailed for eight years for five counts of burglary, and Rohan Brown, 22, of Riverside Way, Salford, got five years and four months for seven burglaries. All five men pleaded guilty to the charges they faced.
In a statement, a GMP spokesperson said: "Investigators identified evidence showing Wayne Jones received £14,000 following a burglary in which approximately £70,000 worth of family gold jewellery was stolen. Images recovered during the investigation also showed Owen and Jones posing with large amounts of cash. In total, property worth more than £500,000 was stolen during the offending period."
PC Isabella Parsons, from GMP's Salford division, said the gang 'caused significant distress' to dozens of families. "The offenders deliberately targeted homes for financial gain and showed little regard for the impact their crimes would have on victims, including children and vulnerable residents who were present during some of the burglaries," she said. "The scale of this investigation has been considerable, involving extensive CCTV opportunities, forensic examinations, mobile phone downloads and financial enquiries. We remain committed to supporting victims and continuing enquiries to identify and return recovered property wherever possible."
