Police finds iPad in river and solves a series of crimes in the UK (Photo: Pixabay)
An iPad that had been submerged in a river for over five years helped solve a series of crimes in the United Kingdom after being discovered by the police.
The crimes were committed by an international organized crime network and were only solved after the police found the device on the banks of the Thames River in London.
The iPad, covered in a layer of sand and discovered with the help of a metal detector, was used as evidence to convict three individuals at the Central Criminal Court in London.
The police were able to extract call data from the device’s SIM card. The calls contained strong evidence against Louis Ahearne, Stewart Ahearne, and Daniel Kelly.
In 2019, the trio had already drawn the attention of the police after attempting to murder Paul Allen, one of the most notorious armed robbers in the UK.
In that incident, they fired six shots into the window of comedian Russell Kane’s property, which had been rented by Allen at the time. Allen was struck in the finger by one of the bullets, and another lodged in his spine. Allen survived but was left paralyzed.
Police argued that the trio had planned the assassination of Allen with great caution, as they had rented a car, organized surveillance, and purchased unregistered prepaid phones.
“This was a meticulously researched and planned attempt on a man’s life, carried out by a group of men well-versed in the level of criminality required to carry it out,” said prosecutor Michael Shaw KC.
A month earlier, the three had robbed a museum in Switzerland and stolen a 14th-century Ming dynasty vase, a wine glass, and a porcelain bowl, worth more than $3 million.
While fleeing, Stewart scraped his belly against the edges of the hole they had made in the front wooden door, leaving DNA traces. Louis had also been caught on the museum’s security cameras the day before the robbery.
After returning to England, the three quickly flew to Hong Kong in an attempt to sell one of the items at an auction house, which alerted the London police. Officers were able to make contact with the thieves while posing as art dealers in the area.
The three were arrested and convicted of the crimes they committed. Sentences will be officially announced on April 25th.
However, Superintendent Matthew Webb suggested that these verdicts are far from the end of the investigations. “It’s one of those cases where you keep scratching, and you keep finding more,” he told CNN.
Photo and video: Pixabay. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
