TWO balaclava-clad raiders who targeted a Sandbach business have been convicted of theft.

Joseph Cartwright and Jamie Lee Hargreaves were spotted by a keen-eyed passer-by as they were loading a cement mixer into a car on Elworth Road on November 12 last year.

After they were sentenced at South Cheshire Magistrates' Court, DC Ryan Ogden said: "2020 has been a particularly difficult year for independent businesses and the last thing they need is to be targeted by thieves.

"Thankfully, on this occasion as a result of being seen by a member of the public, we were able to stop Cartwright and Hargreaves in their tracks and reunite all of the stolen items with their rightful owner."

The court was told that police were called at around 8.35pm after the pair were seen acting suspiciously. They were both wearing balaclavas and were seen loading the mixer into a silver Volkswagen Bora.

Officers later stopped the vehicle on Crewe Road and discovered the cement mixer along with other building supplies. The thieves were arrested on suspicion of theft, while Cartwright was also charged with drink driving after failing a roadside breath test.

All the items police recovered had been stolen from the premises of Miola, a home furnishing business on Lodge Road.

Cartwright, 38, of Old Middlewich Road, Sandbach and Hargreaves, 34, of Birch Gardens, Sandbach were subsequently charged with the theft offences.

The appeared in front of South Cheshire magistrates on December, 29 where they were both handed 12-month conditional discharges and ordered to pay court costs and victim surcharge.

Cartwright was also banned from driving for 12 months for drink driving.

A Miola spokesperson said "I'm grateful for the quick action of officers on the night and the return of the stolen property. We're a local business and look to our community to help and support us especially in this difficult time.

"I was saddened when the theft took place and that it was committed by two local residents"