National gang snared by Lincolnshire Police
The criminal activities of gang that targeted care homes and even hospices across the country were finally brought to a halt by an investigation led by a detective from Lincolnshire Police.
Over a two-year period across 2023-24 the four-man gang carried out a series of 46 ‘sneak-in’ burglaries by preying on vulnerable organisations in 13 counties including schools and doctors’ surgeries. Two of the gang were jailed and their accomplices handed suspended sentences burglary and fraud at Lincoln Crown Court at the end of Operation Hotton, which was led by Det Sgt Adam Petty of the Serious and Organised Crime Unit working with a single analyst and one financial investigator.
Det Sgt Petty said: “These unscrupulous fraudsters targeted hard-working people doing their utmost for their local communities, using every trick in the book to deceive and manipulate their victims.
"They would callously engineer a spurious scenario to create a situation of panic, taking advantage of the victims while at their most vulnerable, to fraudulently obtain their PIN. But through sheer hard work and dedication and meticulous data analysis, we have been able to bring these offenders to justice.
"For a force with such limited resource, we are delighted to have helped deliver justice for so many victims."
The Lincolnshire team also worked with officers from Avon and Somerset, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Staffordshire, Thames Valley, West Mercia, West Midlands and Wiltshire.
The gang, all from Coventry, targeted 16 doctor’s surgeries, 10 care homes, seven schools, five hospitality venues, five hotels and two hospices – their crime spree started at a Lincoln surgery in March 2023 and took in six other county venues as well as victims as far afield as Bristol.
Darren Wykes, 46, (pictured top left) was jailed for five years and five months; George Quinn, 57, (top right) was sentenced to five years; David Ovington, 59, and Daniel Sutherland each received a 21-month term, suspended for two years.
The group’s main tactic would see Wykes unlawfully enter a premises and target unattended bags or jackets to steal purses or wallets. Wykes would call Quinn using unregistered burner phones used exclusively for passing him details of the stolen cards and wallet contents.
Quinn would then call the reception of premises from where the wallet was taken – claiming to be from the bank named on the card, or a police officer – and ask to urgently speak with the person named on any debit cards that Wykes had stolen. He would provide false details on how their purse or wallet had been found, making up spurious stories of having been notified of someone trying to use their cards in various stores.
The victim would check their bag or jacket and find that their purse or wallet was missing, which lent more credibility to Quinn’s false claims. In some cases, they would provide their PIN ‘to be able to reverse these fraudulent transactions.
While Quinn was making the call, Wykes would be on standby inside a shop using a burner phone. As soon as Quinn provided the PIN, he would buy either expensive electrical items or use the card to obtain high value amounts of foreign currency from current exchange outlets. He would also use stolen driving licences as identification for these transactions.
During their two-year operation, the gang used 20 phones – six of which were burner phones – and four vehicles. Wykes saw £447,000 go through his bank account, £127,000 of which was cash paid in at post offices in the Coventry area.
Police are now pursuing action through the Proceeds of Crime Act to recover stolen property and funds.
Wykes seen entering a travel agent in Skegness to purchase £4,000 in foreign currency using a stolen debit card