Earl Shilton Area Crime Spree update from Hinckley Police

We wanted to give everyone an update in relation to the recent crime spree in the Earl Shilton area, so here it goes!

Overnight Thursday 20th April into Friday 21st April we were alerted by local residents to suspicious activity around the Doctors Fields area of Earl Shilton. Officers from the Hinckley Priority Team supported by response officers and local beat officers attended the location and despite extensive searching were not able to spot the offender.

Frustrated but not giving up, officers worked quickly throughout the day to complete enquiries at crime scenes and identify further lines of enquiries. Including CCTV at a local shop where a stolen bank card was used.

A named suspect was quickly identified and by Friday evening officers were hunting for the suspect who appeared to have fled the Hinckley area!

Later in the evening further reports were received of suspicious activity again in Earl Shilton and officers already in the area started searching the streets. At around half past midnight on Saturday 22nd April eagle eyed PC Sharpe spotted a male laying under a car on Melton Street. Despite suggesting he was laying there as he was tired and having a rest, whilst using his balaclava as a cushion, he was arrested and taken to custody!

Over the course of the day officers worked tirelessly on the investigation linking the suspect to theft from motor vehicle offences on both Thursday night and Friday night. Searches at the home address resulted in stolen property being recovered. After 18 hours in the cells the suspect was bailed on 3 offences with conditions including a curfew to remain indoors between 7pm and 7am.

Over the rest of the weekend and into Monday 24th April officers continued their search for the other suspect, enquiries led them to Nuneaton and into Leicester City centre. Where shortly before 7pm they located the suspect hidden in an address in the city. Obviously he was quickly arrested for a large number of burglary and attempted burglaries in Earl Shilton and this morning he remains in police custody whilst specialist detectives continue the investigation.

We would ask and remind residents that getting these people convicted is difficult and CCTV is key to our investigation, so if you have CCTV of either suspect please get in touch so that we can get a copy of the footage – remember its no good sharing it on social media as unfortunately Facebook is not a court room.

We would also ask that anyone that can identify the suspects shares this information with the police and not on social media where disclosing details of named offenders can hinder investigations.

We apologise for the quality of the images – these are taken from police bodycam footage. Its dark out there and at present we are to share the identity of the suspects with you.

If you have information or CCTV footage then please contact Hinckley & Blaby Police via 101 and ask to speak to the Hinckley Operation Fortune Team or quote crime number 23*239306.