As families ate together in restaurants, tracking devices were being attached to their cars

As families sat together to eat in restaurants, a callous burglary gang silently attached trackers to their cars.

A "sophisticated, carefully planned and well executed conspiracy" saw tens of thousands of pounds worth of jewellery and cash stolen from homes across the suburbs of Liverpool. In September and October last year, six homes were targeted.

The brains behind the cruel plot would linger outside eateries of Merseyside as they picked out their next victims. Today (July 5), a court heard how they would deliberately target members of the Asian community, who had "a perceived reputation for keeping large quantities of cash and high value jewellery in their homes".

When police confronted Stuart Devany, he denied involvement, stating "I don't do burglaries". As he was sentenced, the 59-year-oid launched into a 16-word tirade from the dock at Liverpool Crown Court.

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Devany, from Chorley's Lane in Widnes, and his co-conspirators were reported to have identified their victims by attaching trackers to the vehicles of restaurant, takeaway and shop owners - thereby discovering their home addresses.

Once inside the properties, Prosecutor Philip Astbury detailed how the gang members "ignored" high-value items such as iPads, iPhones and televisions, focusing instead on their intended haul, having already secured an "established outlet" for their stolen jewellery in the Doncaster area.

The first series of burglaries began on September 19, 2023, starting with a house on Muirfield Road in Huyton, Merseyside. The thieves entered the property around 2.30pm through the rear patio door, reports the Liverpool Echo.

The homeowner returned shortly after to find that £3,750 in cash and gold jewellery worth over £6,000 had been stolen.

The criminals then moved on to a residence in the Wavertree area of Queens Drive, arriving just before 2.45pm. Three men dressed in dark clothing and with their faces concealed were caught on CCTV climbing over a side wall and breaking in through the kitchen window.

The resident couple and their two children returned home around 11pm to discover muddy footprints throughout their house and up to £5,900 in cash missing, including several hundred pounds which was their young son's birthday money.

To conclude their day of crime, the culprits targeted a house on Greenhill Road in Allerton around 4pm. They smashed a patio window to gain entry and made off with £5,300 in cash hidden in the bedrooms, as well as gold jewellery worth £25,000.

On October 5, three more raids took place. Around 8.30pm, four men were spotted entering the back garden of a house on Isleham Close in Allerton. The residents were out with their family when neighbours informed them about their burglar alarm going off. Upon returning home, they found a window at the back of the property had been forced open.

The intruders had left coffee scattered around the kitchen and taken £300 cash. However, the homeowners "did not keep expensive jewellery or large amounts of cash" at the property, resulting in a relatively small haul for the burglars this time.

Undeterred, the crooks moved to a property on Lyndhurst Avenue in Mossley Hill. The resident had gone to bed about half an hour earlier but heard banging on her bedroom window.

She then discovered a masked man in dark clothing standing at the top of a ladder outside her window.

Finally, the burglars tried to break into a house on Redwing Way in Halewood, where a 16 year old boy was home alone with his younger sister. The teenager heard noises in their back garden and saw two figures dressed in black.

They ultimately left without taking anything after spotting the young boy inside.

A "painstaking investigation" led officers to sift through hours of CCTV footage, which revealed a Vauxhall Vivaro van being used to transport the culprits between crime scenes. It later emerged that this vehicle had been stolen during an earlier burglary on August 2 and was being driven with false plates.

The van was parked on Guest Street in Widnes after the first set of burglaries, while Devany was spotted on camera at a petrol station on Warrington Road in the Cheshire town, filling up the van and buying a can of pop just before the second wave of crimes. The getaway vehicle was later found in the Rochdale area around 10.30pm that same day - which Mr Astbury suggested was "presumably after the two close escapes" meant the burglars "needed to put some distance between themselves and the van".

Around the same time, the defendant was seen on CCTV at a nearby Tesco Express store.

Devany's DNA was found on the steering wheel and gear stick, as well as on an empty Red Bull can found inside the van. Devany was arrested at his home on February 29 this year.

During questioning, the suspect insisted to detectives "I don't do burglaries" but then alleged he had "been used as a slave" and pointed the finger at a man from the travelling community, claiming he had cleaned a van for him once in return for methadone. He later revealed more about the criminal activities, explaining that the gang operated with five or six members and "targeted members of the Pakistani and Chinese communities", using tracking devices placed on their cars while they were outside their businesses.

Devany also detailed how the group preferred walkie talkies over mobile phones to communicate and how they "disposed of" stolen jewellery through connections in South Yorkshire. Confronted with CCTV evidence, he admitted to being at the petrol station and in Rochdale with the van, and confessed to burning his own and his accomplices' clothes.

His extensive criminal history includes 51 previous convictions for 119 offences since 1985, with numerous counts of burglary. In his defence, Olivia Beesley addressed the court, saying: "Mr Devany has had a difficult background."

She recounted the tragic events of his past, stating: "When he was just 17 years old, he suffered the loss of a child. His partner committed suicide by jumping off the Runcorn Bridge."

Beesley continued, highlighting the impact of these events on Devany's life: "He tells me that, after that, his life went downhill. He was offered heroin and fell into addiction very quickly."

She concluded by linking his criminal behaviour to his substance abuse issues: "A great deal of his offending involves dishonesty and theft, which go hand in hand with a battle with addiction. There is a gap in his offending.

"He tells me that he went into the roofing trade and enjoyed this work, but he fell back into criminality. He tells me that he is getting too old for this lifestyle now. He has put his time in custody to good use. He is learning to read and write for the first time, and he is proud of that.

"He tells me he is enjoying his work in custody. This is the first time he has been enjoying his work since his work in landscape gardening."

"He hopes your honour will see there is some remorse. He does note the suffering that he has caused."

Devany admitted conspiracy to commit burglary. Dressed in a blue Nike t-shirt, he was sentenced to six years and five months in prison. In his sentencing remarks, Judge Robert Trevor-Jones said: "You were an integral member of what was, on any view, a highly organised gang which carried out a series of domestic burglaries in a professional and clinical way. The offences were well planned."

"In advance, you targeted members primarily of the Asian community with the belief that they would be in possession of large amounts of high value jewellery as well as cash. You kept observations on local restaurants and shops and then placed tracker devices on their vehicles."

"Once inside the properties, you caused extensive damage - if not ransacking them, in some instances. I am not going to lecture you as to the potential impact that burglaries have on homeowners."

"I have no doubt that other judges have in the past, and it has clearly made little difference. In some instances, occupiers were present and disturbed by the gang's presence."

"That included a 16-year-old child who was faced with the image of intruders dressed entirely in black. How utterly terrifying."

Upon being led to the cells, Devany posited: "How the hell do the travellers get away with it? That's your job, not mine. F***s sake."

Following the sentencing, Merseyside Police's Detective Inspector Kevin O'Rourke noted: "Devany was a particularly callous burglar who specifically targeted the homes of individuals and families who he suspected had high value jewellery. We quickly identified a van used in all six burglaries and, following CCTV inquiries and DNA testing, we were able to find the evidence that has now put Devany behind bars."

"These burglaries had a huge impact on the victims, and it's pleasing to see that Devany now has plenty of time to reflect on his actions in prison. Burglary is a very personal crime, and having pieces of jewellery stolen that are of enormous sentimental value can be distressing for the victims."

"It is rare for members of the Asian community to be targeted in this way, but some burglars will take advantage of cultural traditions and aim to steal a family's gold. If you do keep valuable jewellery or large amounts of cash in your home, please take steps to secure it properly."

"Simply attempting to hide jewellery or cash is not enough, no matter how well you think you have hidden it. A determined burglar will search high and low for your treasured possessions."

"Ideally, you should remove all gold and jewellery from your house altogether and secure these items in a safe deposit box. If you would prefer to keep gold and jewellery at home, buy a high quality safe which complies with insurance rating standards and is fixed securely to a wall or the floor."