Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has announced two charges for burglary, with one case involving the theft £18,000 of clothes. 

Last week, Neil Kennedy was charged with burglary, criminal damage and attempted theft of a motor vehicle in the Shaw Heath area. 

Meanwhile, in July, Stephen Hempenstall was jailed for 45 months for a burglary at a clothes shop.

Detective Inspector Michael Jimenez, who oversees Stockport's Neighbourhood Crime Team (NCT), said: "Over the course of two nights, Hempenstall stole clothing to the approximate value of £18,000 from the shop and then attempted to sell them on to a handler in Macclesfield.

"The Stockport NCT worked significant hours to identify and trace Hempenstall, and he was arrested within 24 hours.

"Officers also obtained warrants, recovering a significant amount of stolen property from the Cheshire and Stockport areas, including the property from the clothes shop.

"As a team, we were thankful to be able to return the stolen property to the victim and reduce the loss as much as possible."

It comes as GMP announced that burglaries across Stockport have fallen by almost one quarter over the past year, whilst arrests are up. 

GMP reports a 23.6% decrease in incidents and a 16.2% increase in arrests. 

There have been 1,653 reported incidents in the borough in the past 12 months compared to 2,165 in the previous year.

Detective Chief Inspector Richard Arthern puts the success down to several factors, including Operation Castle and the creation of a dedicated Neighbourhood Crime Team in 2022.

Operation Castle is a "forcewide response to tackling burglaries from both a residential and commercial perspective". As part of the operation, GMP pledged to attend every burglary in Greater Manchester and send a forensics team within 24 hours. 

~

Free from clickbait, pop-up ads and unwanted surveys, Stockport Nub News is a quality online newspaper for our town.

To get our top stories in your inbox each week, subscribe to our free weekly newsletter HERE.

Please consider following Stockport Nub News on Facebook or Twitter