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Thief has home confiscated for burglary spree in Lymm and celebrity houses

Thomas Mee has been ordered to repay his ill-gotten gains
Thomas Mee has been ordered to repay his ill-gotten gains

A CONVICTED burglar who targeted celebrity homes including Raheem Sterling’s while he lived in Cheshire has had his own home confiscated.

Thomas Mee was jailed for eight years and seven months at Chester Crown Court in July 2020 for a series of burglaries, including one carried out in Lymm.

He and others made off with a haul which included treasured family heirlooms and left homeowners heartbroken.

The offender appeared at Liverpool Crown Court recently for a Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing to learn how much of his ill-gotten gains he will have to repay.

At the hearing a judge ruled that he had benefitted from his crimes to the sum of £586,117.36.

The court ordered Mee pay back £249,012.17 within the next three months – or face a further two years in prison.

Rolex watches and gold, platinum and diamond jewellery seized through POCA proceedings
Rolex watches and gold, platinum and diamond jewellery seized through POCA proceedings

Rolex watches and gold, platinum and diamond jewellery seized through POCA proceedings

The sum was determined from equity in Mee’s home in Liverpool, which will need to be sold, along with cash, jewellery, designer clothing and funds from bank accounts.

The 45-year-old was part of a gang who stole more than £600,000 after committing at least 14 burglaries at addresses in Cheshire, Nottinghamshire, Worcestershire, Buckinghamshire and Warwickshire between November 2018 and October 2019.

Mee, of HMP Altcourse, was joined in the gang by Vincent Ball and John Barlow, with Ball acting as the getaway driver while Barlow and Mee carried out the burglaries, the majority of which were committed during the hours of darkness and at weekends.

As well as hitting a property on Booths Lane in Lymm on November 17, 2018, the men targeted Raheem Sterling's Goostrey mansion and the Buckinghamshire home of Jamiroquai star Jay Kay.

The group specifically targeted homes in affluent rural locations and stole high-value watches, designer handbags and jewellery worth more than half-a-million pounds.

The group first came to the attention of Cheshire Police in late 2018, when a series of burglaries were committed by offenders using ladders to enter properties through first floor windows and doors to ultimately avoid setting off house alarms.

Vincent Ball, John Barlow and Thomas Mee
Vincent Ball, John Barlow and Thomas Mee

Vincent Ball, John Barlow and Thomas Mee

The force’s Serious and Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) began an investigation into the gang and began piecing together a raft of evidence which also linked the trio to burglaries across Neston, Allostock, Mere, and Chelford.

Mee’s downfall came on October 5, 2019, when police received a 999 call from a resident in Prestbury reporting that a family member had disturbed intruders at their Macclesfield Road home.

While fleeing the property, burglars dropped valuable items worth approximately £500,000.

Police were at the scene within minutes and Ball and Mee were arrested a short time later in Massey Street, Alderley Edge, where officers also discovered a Vauxhall Insignia which the group had used as their getaway car.

Within the car, officers found crowbars, walkie-talkies, torches, mobile phones, disposable gloves, false number plates and various items of clothing containing traces of Barlow and Mee’s DNA.

Barlow managed to evade officers on the night, disposing of some of his clothing and making his way back to Alderley Edge before travelling back to Liverpool in a taxi in the early hours of the morning.

Images of stolen handbags found on Mees phone
Images of stolen handbags found on Mees phone

Images of stolen handbags found on Mee's phone

He was arrested on Monday, October 28.

During subsequent searches of the trio’s homes in Merseyside, officers discovered a significant amount of evidence including stolen items, a large quantity of cash and mobile phones.

One of the phones recovered belonging to Mee was found to contain pictures of items that were stolen from several of the burglaries, which would then be sold on.

Ball, then 52, Barlow, then 58, and Mee, all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to burgle, while Mee also admitted three counts of handling stolen goods.

A statement was read in court by one woman who had £146,000 worth of jewellery and handbags stolen, as well as a Louis Vuitton scarf.

She said: “I have a heartbreaking feeling of loss over the sentimental pieces of jewellery which belonged to my late grandmother.

CCTV footage showing the offenders using a ladder to access an address
CCTV footage showing the offenders using a ladder to access an address

CCTV footage showing the offenders using a ladder to access an address

“I cannot stress enough the heartache I feel over having these items taken from me.”

The trio were jailed for a total of 24 years and 10 months, with Ball, of Ranworth Place in Liverpool, sentenced to six years and nine months in prison, and Barlow, of no fixed address, jailed for seven years and six months.

Following Mee’s POCA result, a SOCU spokesman said: “This is the perfect example of how crime does not pay, and it shows the lengths we will go to in order to target those who have profited from crime.

“Not only was Mee handed a lengthy prison sentence, but he also now must pay back every penny he made from his illegal exploits.

“POCA orders allow us to recoup all of criminal’s benefit from crime. By not only ensuring that criminals are locked behind bars, we are able to also ensure that they cannot enjoy any money received once a sentence is served.

“This money will now be repaid to the victims and will not be ploughed back into criminality. We will do all we can to ensure that criminals operating in Cheshire are unable to profit from their crimes, and we will work with our partners and the Crown Prosecution Service to use all available powers at our disposal.”