Two men jailed following string of burglaries in Ellesmere Port and Chester

Two men who stole car keys from homes while families slept in Ellesmere Port and Chester have been jailed.

Stephen Fraser and Noel Ryan appeared at Chester Crown Court on Monday 22 August, where they were both sentenced after pleading guilty to conspiring to commit burglaries and conspiring to handle stolen goods.

Fraser, 30, of Haldon Road, Manchester, was sentenced to five years.

Ryan, 23, of Wilkinson Street, Ellesmere Port, was sentenced to four years and six months.

Fraser’s sentence included an additional six months for dangerous driving whilst disqualified.

The charges relate to offences that took place over two nights, between 8 August and 11 August 2021. 

The court heard how the first offence took place at an address on Pipers Lane, Chester, at around 11pm on Sunday 8 August. The victim was alerted by a doorbell camera, which showed a man in a baseball cap, trying the front and back door handles. 

Later that evening, at around 12.30am on Monday 9 August, the offenders gained entry to an address on Baker Drive, Ellesmere Port, and snatched car keys to a Renault Megane and a Mini Countryman parked on the driveway.

The offenders used a VW Golf-R that had been previously reported as stolen from Manchester to travel between offence locations.  

At 1.15am that same night, the VW Golf-R arrived at an address on Grace Road, Ellesmere Port, with Fraser gaining entry to the address and taking the keys for the Vauxhall Vivaro van parked outside, before fleeing.

Two days later, at around 3am on Wednesday 11 August, a man who lived on Dunkirk Drive, Ellesmere Port, awoke to find that offenders had entered his house to thieve car keys before discovering his Nissan Qashqai and Nissan Juke had also been stolen.

In an end to their spate of thefts, the pair travelled to Park Road in the town, broke into a property and stole a number of items and a quantity of cash, along with the keys to a Fiat 500 which was then driven away from the property.

On this occasion, the offenders used a VW Tiguan, which had been previously reported as stolen from Manchester, to travel between the areas the offences took place.

Following an investigation, most of the vehicles were recovered by police at various locations throughout Ellesmere Port and Manchester shortly after. 

Both Fraser and Ryan were forensically linked to a number of the stolen cars and had access to additional cars brought across from the Manchester area. 

From footage found on Ryan’s phone, Fraser was captured driving dangerously in the stolen VW Golf-R at around 5pm on Saturday 24 July, leading to an additional six months added onto Fraser’s sentencing.

Following the sentencing Detective Constable Stuart Wood said: “Throughout this investigation it was clear that Fraser and Ryan held no considerations for the law or the families they were stealing from.

“They targeted houses in the early hours whilst the occupants were asleep, with no regard as to how this would impact the victims.

“Understandably, these callous crimes have left the families feeling unsafe in their own homes.

“Thankfully due to the evidence gathered, the pair had no option but to plead guilty and as a result are now facing the consequences of their actions.

“We will continue to relentlessly pursue criminals, and I hope that the sentences handed to Fraser and Ryan provides reassurance to local residents and act as a warning to other offenders who are planning to come to Cheshire to commit crime.”