Bradford high-tech car tracker burglary gang jailed

Gang members who went on a year-long spree burgling the homes of Chinese business owners after planting tracking devices on their cars have been jailed.

Nathan Stapleton, Kameron Akram and Andrew Lister used the devices to show when their targets had left home.

The Bradford gang's method was revealed after a tracker was found on one of their victims' cars, police said.

At Leeds Crown Court on Friday, the trio received sentences ranging from four to seven years.

Stapleton, Akram and Lister chose to target the owners of Chinese restaurants and takeaways in Leeds, believing cash from their businesses would be kept at their homes, West Yorkshire police said.

Det Insp Vicky Vessey said the "highly sophisticated" tracking equipment used by the men allowed them to identify and track their victims, adding that it was "also their downfall".

The gang's activities were discovered in December 2020 when the owner of a Chinese takeaway left his home in Tingley for about an hour, during which time the property was burgled.

The victim told police that two days before the burglary, someone had been seen going under their vehicle outside the takeaway business.

When officers looked under the car, they found a small black box with a tracking device inside it attached to the car's rear axle.

Analysis of the device allowed police to identify more trackers which had been used to target other victims, the West Yorkshire force said.

A further tracker was later found at Lister's address while another was recovered at Akram's home, along with drugs and cash, police added.

All three men, from Bradford, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary.

Akram also pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis with intent to supply.

Stapleton, 27, of Howarth Avenue, was jailed for seven years.

Lister, 26, of Churchfields, received a sentence of six years and seven months.

Meanwhile, Akram, 22, of Pelham Court, was jailed for four years and four months.

Det Insp Vessey said: "These offenders exploited relatively new technology to track their victims.

"Painstaking work using the expertise of specialist digital media investigators was able to build up a clear picture which led us right to their doors."

Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected]