A PAIR of car-key burglars who were behind a spate of burglaries from homes and shops across Birmingham, Solihull and Worcestershire have been jailed.
Khye Salmon had sped through red lights, mounted pavements and squeezed between dead end bollards in February 2020.
But their getaway was short-lived as a West Midlands Police officer used all his advanced driver training to shunt the Seat Leon’s rear wing and pin it against a fence in Sheldon’s Church Lane.
Salmon, aged 20, and 21-year-old passenger Callum Rivers were arrested at the scene; and police found the Leon was stolen the previous day from an address in Leamington Spa.
On that occasion officers pursued a VW Up – stolen from Fallowfields Road, Solihull – before using “tactical contact” to bring it to a stop in Admington Road, Sheldon.
Rivers, a disqualified driver, was behind the wheel and he was bailed while enquiries were carried out.
Detectives found the pair were involved in at least 17 burglaries at homes and shops dating back to September 2019 when a Skoda Octavia and Ford Fiesta ST were stolen from a home in Haslucks Green Road, Shirley.
Fellow thief Anthony Ferrie, aged 26, accompanied them to commit some of their earlier offences.
The gang went on to force entry to more homes in Redditch, Stechford, Sutton Coldfield and Shirley before targeting several shops.
They also targeted shops in Solihull, Knowle Marston Green and Birmingham.
In total they made off with vehicles valued at up to £250,000 plus thousands of pounds worth of cigarettes and takings from shops.
Police say Salmon, from Radleys Walk, Sheldon, initially denied involvement but pleaded guilty before his pending trial. He and Rivers were also convicted of dangerous driving.
Salmon, who accepted involvement in six burglaries, was jailed for four years 10 months and banned from driving for 28 months at Birmingham Crown Court.
Rivers had already admitted taking part in five burglaries and jailed for four years four months in January.
Ferrie, who admitted involvement in 14 break-ins, is due to be sentenced on July 14.
PC Mark Woodcock, one of the officers who caught up with the group, “These are three dangerous men who thought nothing of forcing entry to people’s homes while they slept.
“During the pursuits we knew they were not going to cooperate and pull over so we had to take decisive action at the right moment to stop them before they risked causing injury to other road users or pedestrians.”
