Two Manchester men who posed as workmen before breaking into homes in Stockport have been jailed.

Liam Farmer ,21 of Barlow Moor Road and Terence Brien, 23 of Whitchurch Road were yesterday jailed at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court after pleading guilty to a series of burglaries and robberies.

During the month of April last year, there were a number of burglaries in the Stockport area, which were eventually linked to Farmer and Brien due to all those reported having similar circumstances and the targets being homes with expensive jewellery.

In almost all of the reports, a black VW Golf was seen – some of the time with the burgling duo on board.

The Golf would be parked up on the same street where the two would be walking door-to-door with leaflets – posing as driveway repair men – to establish whether or not anyone was home. If the houses were unoccupied, they would climb into the rear of the premises and smash their way through via rear patio windows.

Towards the end of the month, an officer from GMP’s Specialist Operations Unit spotted the hatchback in the Rusholme area. Acting on intelligence from a recent briefing, the constable ordered the car to stop and approached the driver who identified himself as Terence Brien.

When he was told he was being arrested on suspicion of burglary offences – a case strengthened by the full face balaclava, gloves and mobile phone found in the vehicle – he pleaded his innocence claiming the number plates on the car must have been cloned.

On examination of the car, Farmer’s fingerprints were found on the rear view mirror and enquiries to trace him began.

Despite police following several lines of enquiry, Farmer was still at large in September when he and Brien – who was on bail pending further enquiries – frantically searched a house in Cheadle, using a pillow case to stash stolen items.

When investigating the ransacking, officers found Farmer’s DNA on a balaclava he threw out of the getaway car – a white Ford Focus – and gloves that were sniffed out by a police dog.

Farmer managed to continue his offending spree right up until February. By this time, he had robbed and assaulted elderly women – who he had tied up in their own homes – and carried out his final burglary near to Didsbury Park in Manchester.

In the early hours of the next morning officers executed a warrant at Farmer’s house and found him in the first floor bedroom.

They found tens of thousands of pounds in cash stowed in a cereal box, designer bags, jewellery and electrical goods – items which were undoubtedly stolen and did not belong to the unemployed 21-year-old.

Receipts evidenced £12,000 of the cash Farmer had stolen had been spent on designer clothing, £900 of which was spent on a single pair of trainers.

Today, the pair have been sentenced to a total of 15 years and four months in prison.

Detective Matt Tarr of GMP’s Stockport Burglary Unit, said: “While most people make a good, honest living, Farmer and Brien forced their way into the homes of good people and stole thousands upon thousands of pounds of valuables.

“Offenders like this pose a real threat to our communities and those lifestyles we’ve built to enjoy.

“The burglary unit will follow each line of enquiry, as we have done in this case, to bring put heartless individuals like Farmer and Brien in front of a judge and away from breaking into our homes and stealing our most prized possessions.”

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