Two men have been jailed after they were caught on CCTV breaking into a business in Cheetham Hill and starting a fire while one of them was still inside. Diogo Cabral, 21, and Emanuel Feliciano Simoes, 36, both Portuguese nationals, organised the attack on Snapchat and carried it out with an unknown third man.
Manchester Crown Court heard the trio pulled up in a car outside Shzsr Enterprises Ltd on Broughton Street at around midnight on March 1, 2023. They prised open the shutters with crowbars before two of them ran back to the car to grab bottles of accelerant. One of the three remained inside the building after a door was smashed and a fire started.
Spontaneous explosion of light and flames
Prosecutor Henry Blackshaw said there was a 'spontaneous explosion of light and flames'. The third man, who was behind the shutters, was seen on CCTV fleeing like a 'scalded cat', appearing to be on fire. After the flames died down, he joined the other two in the car before it sped off.
Firefighters raced to the scene and the blaze was extinguished. Around £300,000 of damage was caused at the bedding supply business. Police found a discarded mobile phone which was later linked to the driver of the car, Simoes. The Dacia Duster was tracked to Cheetham Hill Road near Manchester Fort shopping centre.
Snapchat messages revealed
Analysis of the phone uncovered searches for a 'dacia' car on February 28. Snapchat messages between Simoes, who had the username Chapo Gang, and Cabral were found. In one message, Simoes said a friend's mother could 'for [them] to go and buy a few canisters of petrol, like about five of them'.
Ten minutes later he said: "Yeah yeah yeah man, oh f****** off, lets do this mission today, we are going to be this kind, but this is going to look bad on us, cant you see it uncle? Even a car, you must bring and everything." Simoes referred to keeping the car for 'other missions' and later asked: "Are you going to buy petrol? Just buy this from any shop, even from the one near the house, must have five litre bottles."
Cabral replied: "Ye I wear them blue ones underneath," with the prosecution suggesting he was referring to gloves. Simoes also made reference to the need for 'false number plates' to avoid detection and said he was wary of going near Cabral's home due to CCTV cameras.
Business owner's statement
In a statement read to the court, the owner of the business said: "Although only 30 per cent of the stock was consumed by the fire, all my stock was effectively destroyed by the smoke, as I can no longer sell it due to the smell. I would estimate the damage caused by the fire to have cost me around £300,000 in total."
The owner added: "As a result, I have suffered significant financial losses which has taken a toll on my wife and children. I have been reluctant to go back to the warehouse as I am overwhelmed by the loss of my business which took me a long time to build." The business is no longer trading.
Cabral and Simoes were arrested and interviewed. Cabral said he was hired to carry out the job for £1,000, while Simoes stayed quiet. Gwen Henshaw, mitigating for Simoes, said despite a recent conviction for aggravated burglary, her client had been making efforts in prison to address his behaviour. For Cabral, Niamh McGinty said her client accepted that he made 'poor life choices'.
Jailing them both, Judge Patrick Field KC said the messages between the two showed it was a 'planned mission'. The pair earlier pleaded guilty to arson. Cabral, of no fixed address, was jailed for five years and four months. Simoes, of Smedley Lane, Cheetham Hill, was jailed for three years.
