A gang loitered outside takeaways, restaurants and shops in order to fit tracking devices to the owners' cars before breaking into their homes.
The first series of break-ins came on September 19 2023, beginning with a property on Muirfield Road in Huyton being targeted at around 2.30pm via the rear patio door. The homeowner returned only a short time afterwards to discover that £3,750 in cash had been stolen from her address, as well as gold jewellery valued at more than £6,000.
The intruders were found to have left coffee strewn around the kitchen and taken £300 cash. But the homeowners "did not keep expensive jewellery or large amounts of cash" in the address, leading to a comparatively light prize for the burglars on this occasion. The van had been parked up on Guest Street in Widnes in the evening following the first set of burglaries, while Devany was caught on camera filling it up at a petrol station on Warrington Road in the Cheshire town and buying a can of pop shortly before the second stage of the crimewave. The getaway vehicle was thereafter located in the Rochdale area at around 10.
His criminal record shows 51 previous convictions for 119 offences dating back to 1985, including several entries for burglary. Olivia Beesley, defending, told the court: "Mr Devany has had a difficult background. "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.
Devany admitted conspiracy to commit burglary. Wearing a blue Nike t-shirt, he was jailed for six years and five months. "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.