Three people have been charged today in connection with over 150 burglaries which were carried out across Cheshire and Greater Manchester last year.
In October 2013 Cheshire experienced a dramatic increase in burglaries in homes, which started on the west of the county, then to spread to the north and east.
Detectives quickly linked the crimes and believed the same people were responsible and Operation Edendale was launched, which led to arrests on Wednesday, 22nd January.
Daryl Kennedy (50) of HMP Forest Bank, Antony Bell (56) of Failsworth and Rosemary Pollard (57) of Cheetham Hill, have all been charged with conspiracy to commit burglary between 1st April and 31st December 2013.
They are due to appear at Chester Magistrates Court today, Thursday 23 January.
A fourth person, aged 31 from Salford, was also arrested as part of this investigation and has been bailed until 12 March 2014.
Kennedy and Bell were previously charged with offences in Cheshire and Greater Manchester after being arrested by Greater Manchester Police on 31st December 2013.
Kennedy was charged with seven burglaries committed on 31 December in south Manchester and Wilmslow. Bell was charged with 7 offences committed on the 31st December 2013 in south Manchester and Wilmslow. These charges will be added to the conspiracy charge above and managed by Cheshire Police.
Speaking yesterday, Detective Chief Inspector Paul Williams said: "The public should feel reassured by these arrests today and I hope it reinforces to them the work we have been doing to catch the people responsible for spreading such misery across Cheshire.
"For such a high number of burglaries to happen in such a short space of time is very unusual and to me shows the arrogance of the criminals responsible, thinking that they would not be caught. Detectives across the Constabulary have been working tirelessly over the last few months to gather the intelligence and evidence we needed to strike today.
"It was without doubt a number one priority for the Constabulary to stop these burglaries and we used a number of tactics and resources as part of our investigation. Burglary has such a devastating impact on people′s lives and I hope these arrests send out a strong message that Cheshire Police takes crimes such as this very seriously and we will put all our resources into catching the people responsible."
Cheshire Police continue to urge the general public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to police. This particular spate of burglaries appears to have ended on New Year′s Eve, however there will always be opportunistic thieves who will take a chance if they see an open window or door.
Anyone with any information about suspicious activity can contact police on 101.
