A burglary gang which used Rightmove and Google to plan raids on dozens of homes in wealthy areas across the country have been jailed.
The four men, all originally from Albania, used Google to track down wealthy areas and select which properties to target. They then uncovered floorplans of various homes using Rightmove, the court heard.
The criminals stole £1 million worth of valuables from dozens of properties across the UK, ranging from designer watches to handbags. They worked towards weekly targets, setting out how much gold they aimed to steal.
Kristian Gropcaj, 31, George Pepa, 31, and Krisjian Dedndreaj, 29, all from the West Midlands, and Sidorjan Lleshi, 27, from Sheffield, pleaded guilty to the burglaries at Chester Crown Court.
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They have been handed prison sentences ranging from nine years to ten years and nine months. A fifth member, Endrit Nikolli, 27, will be sentenced at a later date.
Jade Tubb, Nikolli’s partner, of Walsall, admitted conspiracy to possess criminal property. She was given a 12-month sentence, which was suspended for 2 years, and was instructed to complete 200 hours of community service.
Judge Patrick Thompson said the criminals had been stealing "without mercy". He said: "You have taken something from them that cannot be replaced.
"You have taken their sense of security in their own homes and left them feeling vulnerable and uneasy."
Police said they would usually break into the first-floor homes via a ladder. This would mean they avoided triggering burglar alarms.
Typically, they would ransack the properties while hunting for valuables, ripping sheets off beds to use as makeshift bags to carry loot.
CCTV footage captured them stealing an entire safe from one home.
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The burglars were linked to eight break-ins in Cheshire, two in Middlesbrough, nine in Derbyshire, two in Leicestershire, five in Nottinghamshire, seven in Staffordshire, two in Warwickshire, and three in Birmingham, three in Worcestershire, two in Hereford, and one in Shropshire.
The investigation took a leap forward after Staffordshire Police recovered DNA from one of the burglaries.
A left shoe print was also pivotal in the investigation - which was unique despite being left by a Primark trainer.
The suspects were arrested in a series of raids in which officers seized goods including 13 designer handbags and 14 watches worth £17,000.
Detective Sergeant Sgt Laura Fox, from Cheshire Police, said the men were all "members of a high-level organised crime gang responsible for at least 59 high-value burglaries across the UK".
"The gang specifically targeted wealthy victims, with the aim of stealing as much high value property as possible.
"Nikolli, Gropcaj, Dedndreaj, Pepa and Lleshi were all responsible for conducting the burglaries, while Tubb was happy to spend their ill-gotten gains."
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