Five men have been jailed for their roles in a string of burglaries across Bromley and Croydon.

The gang are believed to have targeted 26 homes across Beckenham, Bromley, Forest Hill and Croydon between September 2005 and March last year.

A business property was also hit.

Ezenwe Igwe, aged 24, of Selhurst Road, Selhurst ; Michael Ennis-Simpson, aged 20, of Casewick Road, West Norwood; Dean Myers, aged 23, of Farringdon Avenue, Bromley; Ashley Nation, aged 22, of Wheathill House, Penge, and Shane Lamey, aged 23, of Christie Drive, Croydon, were all given prison sentences after appearing in Croydon Crown Court on Wednesday.

Ennis-Simpson, Myers and Nation received six years in prison, Igwe got seven years and Lamey was given a three-year sentence.

A sixth man, Theon Thompson, aged 19, of Crowther Road, South Norwood, is due to be sentenced on April 16 after being convicted of conspiracy to commit burglary.

All six men were arrested on March 29 last year, after police tracked them down in Croydon by following a vehicle tracking system in a Golf GTI stolen from an earlier burglary.

Officers found items from earlier burglaries in two vehicles belonging to Igwe and Ennis-Simpson at the scene.

A search of the stolen Golf found items stolen from a Purley address.

Nation was wearing a bracelet and a watch taken from a property in Norbury.

Police also found receipts from a second-hand computer and DVD store in Bromley.

When the store's CCTV footage was viewed, five of the men were seen selling a large number of DVDs from another Purley burglary.

The men used an account opened in Igwe's name to sell the items.

Other items taken by the gang during the burglaries included two laptops, computer games and a BMW.

Nation, Ennis-Simpson and Myers all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary.

Igwe, Lamey and Thompson were found guilty of the same charge on Tuesday, following a trial at Croydon Crown Court.

Background to the sentencing:

  • All six were charged with burglary offences on March 30 last year.
  • They all pleaded not guilty the following day in the same court.
  • Nation, who was on early release from prison, was remanded because he had breached his release licence.
  • The remainder were given bail.
  • Police came back to court with further evidence and Igwe, Ennis-Simpson and Myers were remanded in custody.
  • At the end of May police had linked the gang to further offences and the charge was changed from burglary to a conspiracy to commit burglary from a period from September 1, 2005 until the date of their arrest on March 29 last year.
  • Three of the men pleaded guilty to this charge and another three were found guilty after a trial.
  • 27 burglaries had been linked during this period.