A prolific burglar who broke into people's homes across Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Derbyshire as they slept and snatched their luxury cars has been put behind bars.
Damon Keegan of Woodland View, Hyde, stole almost £350,000 worth of high-value cars over the course of a year.
Appearing at Minshull Street, Manchester Crown Court onHe Friday 27 September, Keegan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to burgle, seven counts of burglary, one count of attempted burglary, eight counts of theft of motor vehicle, one count of going equipped to steal, and three counts of handling stolen goods and dangerous driving.
He has been jailed for six years and 11 months.
The 31-year-old used a variety of methods to steal the cars, but each was intrusive and left victims feeling uneasy in their own homes.
He ran a 'sophisticated' burgling operation across Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Derbyshire.
On one occasion in Knutsford in May 2023, Keegan was disturbed by an alarm in the early hours of the morning.
In a rush to leave, he left behind a radio frequency jammer, identical to the one seized from Keegan on arrest. A forensic examination of the device also identified DNA from Keegan.
The sophisticated tool is often used by criminals, capable of blocking mobile telephone and Wi-Fi signals.
In Lymm in October 2023, a black BMW X5 was stolen from a drive. Keegan disconnected the Wi-Fi so the owner wouldn’t get notified by their doorbell camera, and he broke into the house to steal the keys.
On Thursday, November 2, 2023, an Audi S3 was stolen from an address in Glossop.
The car was traced to a garage in Blackley, before it travelled to Leeds for extensive modifications.
On its return, the stolen Audi S3 had been modified to resemble an Audi A3 and was unrecognisable as all the component parts except the shell, engine and wheels had been changed using parts from a Audi A3 stolen by means of burglary by Keegan, from an address in Timperley.
False plates had also been added to disguise the vehicles true identity. When the car was recovered by police, telescopic ladders, believed to have been used in several burglaries, were located along with several additional tools, and stick on vehicle registration plates.
Detective Constable Holden from our Serious Organised Crime Group said: “Keegan was a prolific burglar with a string of similar past convictions, who, over the space of twelve months stole over £300,000 worth of luxury cars.
"His methods were intrusive and ruinous, often breaking into people’s houses whilst they slept, leaving them unable to get to work or take their children to school when they woke up to see their cars gone and homes tampered with.
“This was an extensive investigation which crossed borders and involved collaboration with neighbouring forces to link Keegan’s crimes and ensure he faced consequences for all his offending.
"His crimes had significant financial and emotional impacts on our victims, and I hope this demonstrates that regardless of the steps you may take to conceal your offending, we will exhaust every line of enquiry to ensure you are put behind bars.
“Ultimately, the cases brought by the team in this investigation were so overwhelming, Keegan had no option but to plead guilty.”
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