(Image: North Yorkshire Police)
A police dog and members of the public combined with two police forces to catch a gang of five ‘professional’ criminals.
The gang had struck at night by raiding a business near Harrogate and driving off in a stolen Iveco lorry and the blue VW Passat in which they had arrived at 4.20am on November 4.
But the alarm was raised at 4.40am, within minutes of the gang leaving, by the company’s depot manager and a North Yorkshire Police traffic officer quickly spotted the two vehicles on the A59 near Blubberhouses as they headed back to the gang’s West Yorkshire base.
By the time they were passing Bolton Abbey, police were behind both vehicles.
In Addingham, West Yorkshire, the Passat turned off and the Iveco tried to reverse into one of the police cars before hitting a wall.
Two men jumped out of the lorry and fled the scene.
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Police boxed in the Passat and arrested three men inside: gang members Shane Ali, James Coffey and Travis Neagle, all jailed today at York Crown Court for burglary and theft of the lorry.
Coffey also pleaded guilty to driving whilst disqualified.
The Recorder of York, Judge Sean Morris, described all gang members as ‘professional criminals’.
Following the trio’s arrest, police dog Rhun and his handler joined an intensive search of the area and 100 metres away, the dog found Lewis Jackson hiding in a bush.
He tried to run away but was grabbed by the dog.
At 9am, Addingham residents alerted police to a man covered in mud walking in the village.
He tried to hire an Uber car from the village library and when a second taxi came for him, members of the public advised its driver not to take him.
Agitated, the man, Marcus Durant, got out of the vehicle and when West Yorkshire Police arrived at 9.35am and liaised with North Yorkshire Police, he was arrested.
Both he and Lewis Jackson were jailed today at York Crown Court after admitting burglary and theft.
The sentences were:
Shane Ali, 33, of no fixed address, jailed for 31 months.
James Coffey, 48, of New Village Way, Churwell, Bradford, jailed for 30 months to be served after the three years and three months he is currently serving for vehicle thefts in West Yorkshire.
Marcus Durant, 31, of East Park Street, Morley, jailed for 32 months.
Travis Neagle, 32, of Arthur Grove, Batley, jailed for 22 months.
Lewis Jackson, 34, of no fixed address, was jailed for 20 months.