Three men handed prison terms after 'reckless' burglary spree in Ashington and Newbiggin

Peter Gaffney, 33, Karl Bye, 36, and Nigel Gaffney, 56, stole from several addresses in Ashington and Newbiggin-by-the-Sea on July 20 and 21, 2023.

They were sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court on February 28 after pleading guilty to multiple charges.

Three vehicles were stolen during the spree, one of which was found burnt out by police. Another was used to flee after the burglaries.

Father and son Nigel and Peter Gaffney were arrested after the third vehicle, taken from a caravan park, was pursued by police.

The vehicle was spotted driving dangerously down the A1 towards Durham and after the pursuit ended, police located the vehicle and detained the pair.

Bye was arrested by police the following day, July 22, in possession of one of the mobile phones that were stolen, among other valuable items, during the burglaries.

Peter Gaffney, of no fixed abode, Newbiggin, was sentenced to 46 months in prison after pleading guilty to four counts of burglary, one counts of theft of a motor vehicle, dangerous driving while disqualified and with no insurance, and failure to provide samples for analysis.

Nigel Gaffney, of Percy Street, Ashington, received a 12 month sentence. He pleaded guilty to one count of burglary, one count of taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent, and one count of assault.

Bye, of Rosalind Street, Ashington, was handed a 57 month jail term after admitting five counts of burglary, one count of theft of a motor vehicle, one count of criminal damage, one count of theft, driving with no insurance, and failure to provide samples for analysis.

Detective Constable Jon Mullen, of Northumbria Police, said: “This is a good result, and these individuals will serve a significant amount of time behind bars for their thoughtless actions.

“In this case, many people were caused stress and unrest as a result of this reckless spate of crimes.

“I would like to praise the efforts of the teams involved in apprehending the three men. We hope it goes some way to giving the victims in this case a degree of closure.

“We would also encourage people to continue to remain vigilant by locking doors and windows and report any suspicious behaviour or criminal activity.”