Praise as Portsmouth burglars jailed for total of 15 years as police clampdown delivers success

Blayne-Jaydon Shanahan, 21, of Grove Road North, and Saqif Chowdhury, 19, of Stafford Road, Staffordshire, appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court after pleading guilty to two counts of aggravated burglary. Shanahan was sentenced to nine years in prison and Chowdhury was sentenced to six years in a Young Offenders’ Institution following incidents on Down End and Fawcett Road in November 2021.

It comes as acting chief constable Ben Snuggs made a commitment in September that Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary would attend every single house burglary report. Since then, the number of charges for residential burglary has doubled compared to recent monthly averages.

In October and November police secured 22 charges relating to residential burglaries, with many more investigations underway. Since April 1 officers have seen 112 burglary investigations result in formal action, such as charges, being taken.

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Burglary reports are still significantly fewer than the levels recorded before the Covid-19 pandemic. Between September 1, 2018, and August 31, 2019, police received 4,127 reports. That compares to 3,010 reports received between September 2021 and August 2022. Since April 1 police have received just over 2,100 reports of dwelling burglary.

Mr Snuggs said: ‘In recent weeks we have seen around 75 dwelling burglaries reported to us each week across Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight. Every single one of these burglaries can cause significant distress to victims, which is why I made a commitment earlier this year to attend every residential burglary report we received.

‘In the past, officers have physically been deployed when a crime was in progress and all reports underwent a rigorous assessment of threat, harm and risk. Burglary is a priority. By attending every report we will maximise the forensic potential available so we catch more offenders. I am really pleased that this is already being reflected in the number of charges we are achieving for residential dwelling burglary investigations.’

He went on to say a ‘range of initiatives’ have been deployed this year to increase the number of offenders brought to justice. ‘Every deployment is an opportunity to capture evidence, identify lines of enquiry and capture offenders and increase the number of cases in which formal action is taken,’ the acting chief said.

Police and crime commissioner Donna Jones, speaking of Shanahan and Chowdhury, said: ‘This is a fantastic outcome for the community. These two men are dangerous criminals. They broke into people’s homes and demanded money, they assaulted occupants and then stole cash, watches and electronic items. I know that officers were on basic foot patrol when they came across the men who were acting suspiciously, and they acted quickly to arrest them.

‘Earlier this year I pledged with the force that there must be a crackdown on burglars, with more deployments and more back-to-basics investigations to put dangerous people before a court. This investigation and tough sentence is a strong sign on what is to come for those who think they can get away with these kind of crimes.’

Police are working hard this Christmas to prevent, detect, and solve burglaries. For tips on keeping safe go to: www.hampshire.police.uk/