Credit card thief caught on camera (From Community Newsgroup)

Credit card thief caught on camera

4:41pm Wednesday 15th October 2008

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A BURGLAR who broke into homes in Wilmslow to steal credit and debit cards has been jailed for three years and four months.

Trevor Agnew, 44, a taxi driver from Hall Lane, Baguley, in Manchester, was caught after he was pictured using one of the cards at a cash machine.

A CCTV camera had been set up near the cashpoint as part of an undercover police operation. A still from the CCTV was published in a newspaper and was identified by a reader.

At Chester Crown Court on Monday October 6, Agnew was sentenced after admitting eight burglaries: two in Wilmslow, two in Knutsford, two in Pickmere, one in Chester, and one at Skelmersdale in Lancashire.

The offences were spread over a period from December 2007 to March 2008.

Constable Gary Turner, from the Cheshire Police Eastern Area burglary unit, said: “Agnew’s standard method was to get into houses while the occupants were in bed and take handbags or wallets which might contain credit cards.

“He then used the cards to take cash from cashpoint machines. We set up a covert operation and he was caught on a CCTV camera. A picture from the CCTV was published in the press and he was identified from that.

“It is a good example of how thorough detective work and co-operation from newspapers can beat crime. This man was a persistent burglar who was causing people a lot of distress. The sentence reflects that.”

The cashpoint was in Timperley and a reader identified Agnew from the CCTV still published in the Manchester Evening News.

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