Three men have been convicted after they broke into pay and display parking machines in North Bridge car park, Halifax. They were brought to justice thanks to strong joint working arrangements in place to keep local communities safe in Calderdale.
Calderdale Council’s Parking Services, CCTV team and community safety wardens joined forces with the Police to catch the culprits.
After being alerted by Parking Services that machines were being targeted, the CCTV team used its state-of-the-art cameras to identify suspicious activity in the car park and alerted the community safety wardens who, together with the Police, immediately searched the local area for the offenders. This quickly led to three arrests and the seizing of the tools used for the break-ins.
Munteanu Florin, 26, of Howard Avenue, Slough; Dobrea Liviu, 37, of Charminster Road, Bournemouth; and Florin Eduarde Mandlache, 25, of Harehills Lane, Leeds were sentenced in Court on Thursday 19 April and each received a 12-month community order and 200 hours of unpaid work, and were fined £500 each. The tools that they used for the break-ins will be destroyed.
Andrew Pitts, Calderdale Council’s Assistant Director – Neighbourhoods, said:
“We’re proud of the excellent working relationships we have in Calderdale, which are so important to keep the borough safe for residents, businesses and visitors. Sharing information and working together is fundamental to clamping down on those who commit crime and anti-social behaviour.
“This case is a clear demonstration of how effective we can be when we join up our community safety resources, and sends out a strong message to other criminals that we do everything possible to ensure they are brought to justice.
“Last year the Council introduced 15 new community safety wardens, who patrol Calderdale’s streets 24/7 to help keep them safe. In the North Bridge car park case, this around-the-clock service and the 24/7 monitoring of CCTV resulted in the strong partnership response which led to the perpetrators being apprehended.
“Though the amount of cash held in parking machines is kept to a minimum at any one time throughout Calderdale, break-ins like these not only cause damage to our equipment but the repair costs take up money that could be used for vital Council services.”
Partnerships Chief Inspector Gareth Crossley said:
“This is another example of the positive partnership working taking place within our Community Safety Partnership. It demonstrates our continued commitment to keeping Halifax a safe place to work and visit, and that we will take positive action against people committing any offence in the district and bring them before the courts to face the consequences of their actions.”