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The cop shop

28/ 2/2008

A BOGUS shop set up by police has resulted in 54 people charged with stolen goods offences.

The sting operation saw police fit out a shop in West Didsbury where burglars could sell their ill-gotten gains.

The shop on Burton Road, called Wired World, was also kitted out with hi-tech surveillance and audio equipment, and officers posed as underworld fences offering to buy and sell on the goods.

It was opened in May 2006 and operated for a year, drawing in many criminals who had targeted the large student-occupied houses in nearby areas.

Stolen items offered to officers included televisions, dvds, computer games, mobile phones, laptops, and iPods.

The operation has led to 57 arrests, and 54 charges. One man has just been jailed with evidence taken from the shop, and further trials are due to take place.

Chief Inspector Jim Liggett, of south Manchester police, said: "We recognised that some areas round here such as Withington are a hotspot for burglaries of student houses. As well as our normal police operations, we decided to use an innovative way of catching criminals."

Roger Smith, chairman of Withington Civic Society, said: "Sadly, Withington is a crime hotspot for burglaries so whatever the police do help combat that, I am behind them one hundred per cent."

A businessman, Gopal Dangol, who has owned the Great Kathmandu restaurant on Burton Road for 21 years, has also welcomed the operation. He said: "I think it is good that the police have done this if it means that criminals have been caught.

"I’m surprised to hear that it was a bogus shop because I hadn’t suspected anything like that happening.

"It is a good area here, though, so it is a bit of a shock."

Rhys Otoo, 18, of Princess Parkway, Withington, last week became the first ‘customer’ of the shop to be jailed.

Otoo received a 30 month sentence for a string of offences including 14 charges of handling stolen goods and 16 charges involving selling or offering to supply drugs including ecstasy, cocaine and cannabis.