A THIEF who worked as part of a two man crime team to steal bikes from railway stations in Cheshire and Merseyside has been jailed for seven months.

Dale Murphy, 22, of Withington Road, Liverpool, was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to stealing 15 bikes with Neil Gandy, 22, of East Millwood Road, Liverpool.

It followed an investigation by British Transport Police.

The court heard how between February 20 and 10 April 10 last year the pair repeatedly targeting train stations at Widnes, Hunts Cross, Warrington Bank Quay, Warrington Central and Liverpool South Parkway as well stealing bikes from Warrington town centre and Speke.

The duo stole high value bikes worth almost £10,000, abandoning some at stations if a more expensive model caught their eye.

The criminals then then used trains to transport the stolen property.

CCTV images from stations identified Murphy and Gandy as the thieves and mobile phone data placed them at the locations of the thefts.

Subsequent searches of Murphy and Gandy’s home addresses revealed numerous bike parts.

Both pleaded guilty to 15 bike thefts.

Murphy was sentenced to seven months in jail and Gandy received a seven month suspended sentence for two years with a 35 day rehabilitation order and a three month curfew.

Investigating officer PC Ray Williams said: “Indisputable CCTV evidence tied Murphy and Gandy to the scene of their crimes and thankfully put an end to their crime spree.

“The pair clearly saw the bikes as an easy target and stole high value cycles totalling approximately £10,000, most of which were successfully recovered and returned to their owners.

“Given the amount of bike parts found at their homes we can only assume that the pair had been stripping some of the bikes in a bid to disguise others they had stolen.

“While Murphy is behind bars and Gandy received a suspended sentence, opportunist bike thieves are still out there and we would remind cyclists to always ensure their bikes are well secured in designated areas when leaving them at stations.

“If you have saved to buy an expensive model then it’s worth investing in a top notch lock to prevent it being stolen.”