Two brothers have been jailed after a series of burglaries targeting shops that specialise in collectable Pokémon cards. Shane and Keith Johnson stole stock worth approximately £71,000, including rare Pokémon cards valued at £62,000 from Celestial Collectables on Lovely Lane in Warrington.
Warrington burglary
Cheshire Police were alerted to the break-in on April 8 following reports that the shop door window was being smashed and the shop was being ransacked. After entering through the broken doorway, officers discovered Pokémon cards strewn across the floor. Crime Scene Investigators recovered a crowbar used to smash the glass in the front door and damage shelving and cabinets.
Alongside the stolen cards, the brothers caused more than £3,000 worth of damage to the shop, which specialises in rare and high-value Pokémon trading cards and memorabilia items.
Investigation and arrests
CCTV footage showed a white Ford transit van used in the burglary, travelling on cloned number plates from Birmingham to Warrington on the same day. The van had previously been captured parked outside Keith’s address. When tracked down, it contained a number of Pokémon cards, a box with a shop's logo, and tools that could be used in a burglary.
The brothers also struck The Graded Gallery in Rugby, Warwickshire, which specialises in comics, trading cards, figurines and video games. They used a crowbar to break in and caused significant damage to the interior as they stole various items, including Pokémon cards. The total stock stolen and damaged was more than £9,000.
Following that burglary, West Midlands Police informed Cheshire colleagues that another burglary had taken place, and the Nissan X-Trail involved in the Warwickshire theft was parked outside Keith's. West Midlands officers arrested the two men at the address and recovered the keys to the van used in the Cheshire burglary, the clothes they were wearing at the time, and stolen property belonging to Celestial Collectables. They also found keys to the Nissan X-Trail and more stolen property from other commercial burglaries.
Sentencing
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.”
Shane Johnson, 37, of no fixed address, appeared at Birmingham Crown Court on August 13 after pleading guilty to burglary with intent to steal at an earlier hearing. He was sentenced to 45 months and four weeks in prison. His brother, Keith Johnson, 33, from Brookwood Avenue, Birmingham, appeared at the same court on July 2 to be sentenced after admitting the same offences. He was sentenced to 29 months in prison.
