A professional burglar hit 88 homes while being employed by a gang that stole cars with a combined value of £2.6m.
Keith Russell was paid wages to break into properties to steal BMWs and Audis, some of which were sold on to other criminals.
He used one of the stolen vehicles to carry out an armed robbery in which a Post Office worker was threatened with a crowbar.
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Russell was part of a gang known to have been behind 160 thefts across Merseyside, Cheshire and Lancashire.
He was today locked up for his exploits alongside fellow burglar Paul Wharton.
Sion Mihangell, prosecuting both men, told Liverpool Crown Court they were busted as part of Operation Awakening - a police probe set up after a sharp rise in burglaries in 2019.
He said: “The prosecution say that these defendants were all part of an organised crime group operating within a clearly defined structure that involved the theft of high-powered vehicles.”
Mr Mihangell took the court through a series of burglaries, detailing how victims woke to their homes having been broken into, car keys stolen and vehicles taken.
Many of the incidents saw burglars break in through back doors and patio doors, with lock barrels found broken and discarded.
The trail of misery extended from Glendevon Road in Childwall to addresses in Huyton and Warrington.
As well as BMWs, Audis and Volkswagens, other stolen vehicles included a Mini and Ford Focus. Registration plates were also taken.
The vast majority of the cars were never recovered by police, but those that were led detectives to conclude the gang sold some to other criminals.
Russell, whose address was given to the court as HMP Liverpool, was linked to 88 burglaries, eight attempted burglaries and 14 thefts.
The 42-year-old’s role was exposed by mobile phone evidence placing him close to the scene of several burglaries and payments made by the gang’s leader - Anjum Nawaz - into his partner’s account.
Mr Mihangell said the transactions amounted to “wages” paid to Russell, who also fell to be sentenced for his role in a robbery at The Croft in Stockbridge Village in October 2019.
That incident saw a Post Office worker threatened by a man dressed in black, thought to have been wearing a balaclava and who was wielding a crowbar.
The thug demanded the victim release a cash box containing £3,500, which he did - then fled the scene in a BMW with another man.
The getaway car was one of those stolen by the gang and was later found abandoned close to Yew Tree Cemetery after it had crashed into a tree.
The cash box was found nearby and, while it was damaged, efforts to open it had failed.
Forensic tests recovered Russell’s DNA from the vehicle’s gear stick.
Russell admitted robbery and conspiracies to burgle and steal.
He had 38 convictions for 100 offences, including a robbery dating back to 1997, 10 counts of taking a vehicle without consent and causing serious injury through dangerous driving.
Wharton, who was linked to 16 burglaries and 11 attempted burglaries, had 18 convictions for 35 offences.
They included convictions for burglary in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011 and 2016.
The 35-year-old, formerly of Max Road in Knotty Ash, admitted conspiracies to burgle and steal.
Julian Nutter, defending Russell, said: “Through me he apologises to his victims for all of his crimes… he is making great efforts in custody to improve himself.”
Paul Treble, defending Wharton, said his client became involved in the gang after falling into debt to people “who wanted their money very quickly”.
Mr Treble added: “He does have a lot of recognition and remorse for what he has done… He does want to change, he does want to stop committing offences.”
Judge Anil Murray described the car theft operation as a “well-organised” scheme that involved “significant planning”.
He highlighted how the victim of the robbery that Russell was involved in had been left “shaken” by his experience.
Russell, who had already served a three year sentence for some of the burglaries linked to the gang, was sentenced to a further four years and six months for the conspiracies to burgle and steal. He was handed three years and six months for the robbery, to run consecutively.
This means he was handed a total sentenced of eight years today.
Wharton was sentenced to seven years and three months.
Last year the car theft gang’s leader Kashif Rafiq, also known as Anjum Nawaz, 38 and of Oozehead Lane, Blackburn, was sentenced to eight years, nine months for conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to steal motor vehicles. Seven others, including men from Tuebrook, Knotty Ash and Huyton, were also jailed.
Following the sentencing, Detective Sergeant Darren Hankin of Merseyside Police, said: “The sentencing of Wharton and Russell today for their part in the burglary conspiracy brings the total for the organised crime gang to over 47 years.
“This was a detailed and complex investigation which was supported by our colleagues at Cheshire and Lancashire Constabularies and demonstrates the commitment of Merseyside Police’s dedicated Operation Castle team to bringing these people to justice and putting them behind bars where they belong.”
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