Boy among 17 arrested in burglary swoop

A 14-YEAR-OLD boy was among 17 people arrested as part of a crackdown on burglaries.

Officers raided a number of homes last week in response to a series of burglaries in Rochdale between July and October of this year.

Seventeen people, aged between 14 and 50, were arrested on suspicion of burglary offences in the raids in Rochdale, Oldham and Moston.

Of those, 16 have since been charged.

Inspector Graham Cooke, of the Rochdale Neighbourhood

Task Force, said: “This was a fantastic week, targeting significant serial burglary offenders.

“However I want to be clear whilst this was a week of action, our enforcement activities will continue. The Rochdale Neighbourhood Task Force now has responsibility for investigating all burglaries in the Rochdale area, and we will pursue every line of enquiry to bring offenders to justice, and provide reassurance to our communities.

“We will continue to investigate those who have been released on bail or under investigation, many of these offenders will be charged in the days and weeks ahead.

“This week also sees the launch of Operation Ulysses, where identified burglary offenders will be pro-actively targeted by all officers in Rochdale, in order to disrupt their activities, gain intelligence and ultimately arrest.

“I am committed to reducing the number of burglaries reported, placing offenders before the courts and increasing our detection rates.”

The week of action comes as part of Operation Castle, GMP’s force-wide response to tackling burglaries. Police say the operation has been in place for a number of weeks and has seen positive results across districts.