A SHOPKEEPER who arranged to sell computers stolen by school burglars has been jailed alongside an accomplice.

Yacoob Ahmed was a respected businessman before he became involved with a gang who broke into several schools across the region after posing a prospective parents in order to conduct reconnaissance.

He ran AutoWorld, a car and mobile phone parts business in Tonge Moor Road, Tonge Moor, and was sentenced at Bolton Crown Court yesterday.

Prosecutor William Donnelly said: "The jury convicted on a charge of dishonestly handling the proceeds of a burglary at Peel Hall Primary School (in Little Hulton) and on a charge of dishonestly handling iPads, the part of proceeds at Hindsford Primary School in Atherton."

Co-defendant Guy Alam was convicted of one count of handling stolen goods – by arranging for the transport of laptops taken from Peel Hall Primary School to Ahmed's shop and loading a new version of the Windows software to make them more sellable.

Michael Davies, for Ahmed, said his client had previously made donations of £1,500 to Bolton-based Hope 4 Homeless UK charity and £3,000 to Bolton Islamic Girls School and had organised a fundraising car wash for global humanitarian aid organisation Human Appeal.

The court heard the 26-year-old defendant, of Broad Oak Road, Farnworth, has a one-month-old baby with his wife and helps his older brother, who was blinded in a car accident, with grooming, chores and transport.

But Recorder Ahmed Nadim said: "He has an insidious side. He demonstrated himself to be thoroughly dishonest on oath."

He told Ahmed: "Evidence demonstrates your deep and wide-ranging associations with the burglars who deliberately attacked local schools in this area.

"I have no hesitation in concluding you knew the burglars were attacking the schools, from which you were to receive the proceeds of their crime.

"Because of the blatant commercial nature of the enterprise, I feel it would be wrong to suspend the sentence of imprisonment."

Serving prisoner Alam, aged 40, previously of Tonge Moor Road, Tonge Moor, appeared by video link.

Andrew Costello, for Alam, said: "He is a career criminal and recidivist drug user.

"He is not the brains of this operation. He has not provided a lot of know-how or facilities for these offences to take place."

Judge sentenced both men to identical eight-month prison sentences with an extended eight-month period on licence when they are released.

They will be joining behind bars the four burglars – Samuel Grimes, Benjamin Grimes, Mark Rhodes and Christopher Moore – who were jailed in April after trial.