Three teenagers have escaped custodial sentences despite being part of a burglary gang which terrorised affluent areas of Stockport and south Manchester.
Harley Moran, at the time 18, and a boy then aged 16, who cannot be named for legal reasons, took part in a series of terrifying night-time burglaries in which expensive cars were taken in the Heatons in Stockport and Didsbury in south Manchester between December 2021 and February 2022.
Today (Monday) the pair, and a third member of the gang, Quamen Simms-Henry, 18 at the time, who was found at the wheel two of the stolen cars, were handed branded 'very young, very stupid, very immature young men' by a judge who decided to show mercy and spare the trio custodial sentences.
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Moran and the 16-year-old boy took part in terrifying burglaries at homes while families including children were asleep. Among the gang's victims was a couple of GPs who were left too traumatised to go to work the following day, a woman who lives alone and a couple with a newborn baby, Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court was told.
The court heard one householder parked his VW Tiguan on his driveway and he left the keys in a bowl in the kitchen of the home in Heaton Moor. When he and his wife woke the following morning they realised the keys had been taken and the Tiguan had gone, prosecutor David Lees told Manchester Crown Court today (Monday).
The thieves had taken two mobile phones valued at £1,500 and two wallets containing £300 cash. Bank cards from the wallets were used at a nearby McDonald's and a garage.
The keys to their second car had also been swiped but the vehicle remained in the garage.
The subsequent police investigation uncovered CCTV which showed Moran, then 18, and his co-defendant, a boy then aged 16, arriving in the stolen Tiguan at the flat of another member of the gang.
The court heard that during another burglary at a house in Didsbury an Audi valued at £17,000 and a £5,000 Mercedes were taken from the driveway.
The Audi and Mercedes were found abandoned in Bolton a few days later. The court heard a third member of the gang, Quamen Simms-Henry, then aged 18, was captured on CCTV in the driver's seat of the Mercedes. He was captured getting out of the car and then driving off in the stolen Audi.
Another home, in Heaton Norris, was burgled in December, 2021, when the £13,000 Mazda parked outside was stolen. Bank cards and a purse were stolen from the owner's handbag as well as her car keys, the court was told.
The police investigation uncovered footage, said to have been shared on social media, which showed Simms-Henry and another member of the gang inside the car, said Mr Lees.
Simms-Henry tried used a card stolen in the burglary to attempt to pay for fuel for the car. In the end, he drove away from the forecourt of a petrol station having filled up without paying.
The court heard that a couple and their children were asleep during another burglary at a house in Heaton Moor where the barrel of a back door lock had been removed.
A silver Mercedes valued at £31,000 and a black Audi worth £26,000, belonging to a couple of GPs, were stolen from the driveway after the keys had been swiped from inside the home. Moran had taken part in this burglary, the court heard.
More footage obtained by the police investigation showed another member of the gang, then 17 and who was jailed previously, saying: "Every f***ing night bro and we got the next Audi bro."
The householder, in a victim impact statement read out in court, said: "This incident has resulted in both my husband and I feeling vulnerable and emotional. These persons have entered our home while both of us were asleep and our children were in bed.
"I am scared to have our vehicles in our drive now and feel that all locks need to be changed, especially as we only have our spare keys now and the original keys are still outstanding and possibly with the offenders.
"We will have to seek help through our insurance company to enable us to get transport as we are both GPs who need to continue to work. However, we have no means of transport."
The couple said the incident had 'emotionally affected us' and they had to take a day off work.
"We do not feel that we would continue with our normal lives right now. We will also have to invest in further house security and to pay for the damage to be fixed to our door locks," said the householder.
The boy was part of another burglary which took place at the house of a young family in Heaton Mersey at 11pm on February 2, 20222
The homeowners, a couple with a newborn baby, woke the following morning to find the rear patio door had been broken open and their blue BMW 235, worth £18,000, and their £6,000 white Hyundai had been stolen.
The mother of the newborn, in a victim impact statement read in court, said: "This is the second time I have been broken into in the last 12 months... My partner and I have recently had a newborn baby and are both off work at present and under financial constraints already.
"This will only cause further financial impact and stress for both my partner and I."
The couple said they had to cancel plans and struggled to get 'day to day essentials' for their baby without a car at their disposal.
Moran was involved in another burglary at a home in Heaton Mersey which awoke the householder at 2am when the alarm was triggered.
When the woman went to investigate, she saw muddy footprints on the carpet but she didn't see any intruders. A neighbour saw the Hyundai stolen in a previous burglary driving away with two people on board.
The householder said the incident left her 'terrified'.
She said, in a victim statement: "This incident has left me feeling extremely vulnerable especially because I live on my own. I have never really thought about not feeling safe in my own home but now I am terrified. I barely slept that night and the nights since."
Harley Moran, now 19, of Fernherst Road in Burnage, pleaded guilty to three counts of burglary and the associated theft of three cars. He had no previous convictions.
Quamen Simms-Henry, now 19, of Longport Avenue in Withington, pleaded guilty to fraud by using one of the bank cards stolen in one of the burglaries, and making off from a petrol station without paying for fuel in one of the stolen cars. He also admitted handling a stolen car, taking it without consent as well as not being insured or licensed to drive.
The court heard Simms-Henry had seven sets of previous convictions for 22 offences including ten robberies and possession of a blade.
The third defendant, a boy now aged 17, from Bury, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted two burglary offences and the associated theft of a car. He had previous convictions including for burglary and aggravated vehicle taking. His latest offending put him in breach of a previous community sentence, the court was told.
Adam Lodge, defending Moran, told the court his client had been 'immature' and had not realised the impact of his crimes at the time.
"He moved in circles where that kind of behaviour was almost normal," said Mr Lodge, adding that his client now worked six days a week and was considered a 'model employee'.
Moran, who is poised to be a father for the first time, was also in a 'stable relationship'.
Steve McNally, defending Simms-Henry, said his client was in a 'very different position' to his co-defendants, as he did not face burglary charges. The defendant had 'complex needs' and 'vulnerabilities' which left him open to 'exploitation'.
Mark Savage, defending the youth, said his 'impressionable' client had struggled to understand the consequences of his crimes although he was a 'different young man now' and was 'working towards maturity'.
The judge, Her Honour Judge Bernadette Baxter, told the youth and Moran they were 'clearly part of a group' that planned burglaries which targeted families including children while they slept 'to help yourselves to car keys, valuables, cash and other property'.
She recalled one couple, both GPs, were left too frightened to go into work the following day.
The judge went on that all their victims were 'felt frightened at their home at nights' although 'thankfully' all the cars had been returned to their owners.
Sentencing the boy, now aged 17, the judge pointed out she would be required to choose a 'starting point' for any custodial sentence two thirds of the sentence an adult would attract, and that the youth was entitled to 25 per cent off any sentence because of his guilty pleas.
With another discount for the 180 days the defendant had been on electronically monitored curfew, any custodial sentence would be 'in months', she said.
Judge Baxter went on that, taking account of the youth's mitigation, including that he was now in full-time employment and had moved away from the area, she could suspend his sentence.
Handing the youth a 12-month rehabilitation order, she added there was also a 'realistic prospect of rehabilitation'. The boy was also placed on a three-month curfew requiring him to be at home between 7pm and 7am every night.
"I'm giving you a chance. If you don't take it, you have only yourself to blame," said Judge Baxter.
Judge Baxter handed Moran a 22-month jail sentence but suspended it for two years. She pointed out he had no previous convictions and had not been in trouble since he had taken part in the burglaries. He had also spent time in custody awaiting sentence.
Simms-Henry, who the judge said had the 'worst record' of the three defendants although he faced lesser charges, was handed a 12-month jail sentence, suspended for two years. He was also ordered to complete a 'thinking skills program' and 50 days of rehabilitation activity. He must also do 100 hours unpaid work in the community.
Judge Baxter told all three: "You are three very young, very stupid, very immature young men who, if you continue down this path will be going to prison for longer and longer."
The judge also refused an application by the M.E.N. to lift reporting restrictions on the 17-year-old boy. Moran and the youth who cannot be named for legal reasons occasionally laughed and joked together during the hearing.
A previous court has sentenced another youth member of the gang, 17 at the time, to three years and five months in custody in May this year after he admitted a series of burglary and car theft offences.
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