A second brother has been jailed after two men stole more than £71,000 worth of Pokémon items in Warrington. Keith Johnson, 33, and Shane Johnson, 37, targeted Celestial Collectables on Lovely Lane on the evening of April 8.
Burglary and Investigation
The shop specialises in rare and high-value Pokémon trading cards and memorabilia. Cheshire Police were called after reports of a smashed shop door window and an ongoing ransacking. Officers entered through the broken doorway and found Pokémon cards "strewn across the floor." A crowbar was found at the scene, used to smash into the building and damage shelving and cabinets.
Pokémon cards worth £62,000 were stolen, and damage to the shop cost over £3,000. CCTV showed a white Ford transit van with cloned number plates. The van had travelled from Birmingham to Warrington on the day of the burglary and 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."
Further CCTV revealed the van had broken down, and the brothers pushed it along London Road onto East Avenue, where another waiting van from Birmingham 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 cause significant damage and steal items including Pokémon cards. They left in a Nissan X-Trail, with total stock stolen and damage exceeding £9,000.
West Midlands Police informed Cheshire colleagues of the Rugby burglary, and the Nissan X-Trail was found parked outside Keith's address. Officers arrested both men and recovered keys to the van used in the Warrington burglary, stolen property from Celestial Collectables, keys to the Nissan X-Trail, and more stolen property from other commercial burglaries. The clothes worn during the Warrington burglary, including Shane's trainers, were also recovered.
Sentencing
Keith Johnson, of Brookwood Avenue, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to burglary with intent to steal and was sentenced to 29 months in prison at Birmingham Crown Court on July 2. Shane Johnson, of no fixed address, admitted the same offences and was sentenced on August 13 to 45 months and four weeks in prison.
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."
