Close to 50 charges have been issued by a single Kent Police team in the space of a month.
The Chief Constable’s Crime Squad, which consists of detectives and uniformed officers who primarily investigate burglary and robbery offences, received authority to issue 46 charges across July 2021.
In addition to the new charges, the team’s investigations led to offenders being jailed for a combined total of 14 years and nine months. Ten arrests were also made over the same period.
Detective Chief Inspector Matt Talboys, who leads the team, said: ‘Our officers are committed to achieving the best possible results for victims of crime and an important part of that process is taking the most robust, but proportionate, course of action available to us.
‘It is therefore really pleasing to see that a large proportion of the cases we took on last month not only led to charges being authorised, but our applications for a suspect to be remanded in custody also approved by the court.
‘Since our launch in February 2019 we have consistently taken this approach to our investigations, with more than 2,100 charges authorised in this timeframe.’
Many of the individuals charged in July have been remanded in custody while they await a future court date.
Among them are two men who are alleged to have burgled nine homes across Queenborough, Sittingbourne, Minster, Iwade and Gillingham. They are next due to appear at Maidstone Crown Court in mid-August.
Similar action has been taken against a Dover man, who is alleged to have burgled two homes in his hometown before using a stolen bank card in two fraudulent transactions. He has since admitted the offences and is due to appear at Canterbury Crown Court in mid-August.
A burglary charge has also been authorised against two men who are alleged to have stolen car parts, and number plates, from the Detling Aerodrome Industrial Estate.
Custodial sentences were also imposed on several offenders dealt with by the team.
One nominal who was jailed is a Sheerness man who assaulted a Kent Police officer as he was being arrested. He was sentenced to three years for the offence, and an additional count of escaping lawful custody.
Two metal thieves who stole copper wiring from a site in Canterbury were also imprisoned for a total of two years and eight months.
And a thief who stole a bank card from an elderly man in Folkestone, before using it to buy vodka and hair gel, was jailed for a year.
A Crime Squad detective, who is now part of the Serious Organised Crime Unit, also helped investigate two men who were sentenced to a combined total of 22 years. Their offences included a ram raid in Northfleet, a shop robbery in Ebbsfleet, and a series of burglaries committed across Gravesend and Dartford.
DCI Talboys added: ‘There’s not going to be any let-up in our efforts to make the county a difficult place for criminals to operate.
‘As the people who we dealt with last month have found out, if we suspect you are involved in crime we will come after you and use the full remit of our powers to ensure you are held to account.’
