Two brothers stole more than £71,000 worth of Pokémon items from a specialist shop in Warrington, leading to a prison sentence for one and a pending sentence for the other.
Details of the Burglary
On the evening of April 8, brothers Keith Johnson, 33, and Shane Johnson, 37, targeted Celestial Collectables on Lovely Lane in Warrington. The shop specialises in rare and high-value Pokémon trading cards, memorabilia, and other collectible items. According to Cheshire Police, the brothers used a crowbar to smash the shop door window and ransacked the premises. Officers found Pokémon cards “strewn across the floor” and a crowbar at the scene.
Mainly Pokémon cards worth £62,000 were stolen, and damage to the shop itself cost over £3,000.
Investigation and Evidence
CCTV showed a white Ford Transit van with cloned number plates used in the burglary. The van had travelled from Birmingham to Warrington on the day of the crime and was earlier seen parked outside Keith’s address on Brookwood Avenue, Birmingham. The van was later found after a burglary on East Avenue in Stockton Heath, containing Pokémon cards, a box with the shop’s logo, and tools for “going equipped to a burglary,” police said.
Further CCTV revealed the van broke down, and the brothers pushed it along London Road in Warrington onto East Avenue, where another waiting van transferred the haul. That van was later found near Shane’s address.
Second Burglary and Arrest
The brothers then struck The Graded Gallery in Rugby, again using a crowbar to break in and cause significant interior damage, stealing various items including Pokémon cards. The total stolen stock and damage exceeded £9,000. They left in a Nissan X-Trail.
West Midlands Police informed Cheshire colleagues of the Rugby burglary and that the Nissan X-Trail was parked outside Keith’s home. Officers arrested both men, recovering keys to the van used in the Warrington burglary, stolen property from Celestial Collectables, keys to the Nissan X-Trail, and items from other commercial burglaries. The clothes they wore during the Warrington burglary, including Shane’s trainers, were also recovered.
Sentencing
Keith Johnson, of Brookwood Avenue, Birmingham, appeared at Birmingham Crown Court on July 2 after pleading guilty to burglary with intent to steal. He was sentenced to 29 months in prison. His brother, Shane Johnson, of no fixed address, admitted the same offences and will be sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on July 31.
DC Hannah Smith said: “The overwhelming evidence collected through our extensive enquiries put them at both crime scenes giving them no choice but to plead guilty. The brothers will now have to pay the price for their part in their criminal Pokémon enterprise.”
