Five men charged with dwelling burglary offence

Five men have been charged and been remanded into custody by the court after a police investigation into dwelling burglaries across the South West.

Jimmy Gilheaney, 20, and Jimmy Gilheaney, 43, both of Winterbourne; Martin McDonagh, 53, of no fixed address, and Michael McDonagh, 46 of Hengrove, all appeared before Bristol Magistrates’ Court on Saturday 28 February.

A fifth man, Michael McDonagh, 24, of Loughton in Essex, appeared in the same court on Monday 2 March.

All five are charged with conspiracy to commit a dwelling burglary with intent to steal.

No pleas were entered and all five were remanded into custody pending a further hearing at Bristol Crown Court on 10 April.

The charges come after a lengthy police investigation into a series of more than a dozen burglaries across the Avon and Somerset and Devon and Cornwall policing areas in which mainly cash and high value jewellery were stolen.

Detective Inspector Tim Mullins said: “Burglary is a horrendously intrusive crime which can have a lasting psychological impact on victims as well as a financial loss.

“We are committed to identifying those responsible and would urge anyone to report these incidents to us.”