A brazen thief and robber who targeted high-value bicycles has been jailed.
Kyle Meli, aged 28, stole five bikes from outside a hospital, college, university, retail park and fast food restaurant over four months.
Some of the bicycles were performance machines costing several thousands of pounds.
Meli, of Westville Gardens, Nottingham, appeared at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday (June 14) and was sentenced to one year in jail for the thefts.
He had pleaded guilty to five thefts of pedal cycles.
Meli received a further four years in jail for a robbery in Waverley Street, Long Eaton, Derbyshire, on 27 September 2023.
He stole a man’s car after threatening him and dumped the vehicle at Beeston railway station.
Meli’s series of bike thefts began in Roundhouse Road, Derby, on 6 October 2023 where he stole a bicycle which had been locked in a bike rack.
He went on to take further bikes which had been left by their owners at Queen’s Medical Centre; in University Boulevard, Nottingham; Radcliffe Road, West Bridgford and Barton Lane, Attenborough.
He was identified by officers after they analysed many hours of CCTV coverage.
Police Constable Matthew Holden, of Nottinghamshire Police, said:
“Meli stole several high-value bikes by cutting through locks in brazen raids at busy locations.
“The case shows once again the importance of good quality CCTV cameras as the footage was invaluable in identifying Meli as the offender.
“Regardless of the value of the items, we know many people rely on their bikes for work and to get around so we always work hard to recover them and track down those responsible.
“We would urge cyclists to take every possible precaution to prevent the theft of their bikes when parked at home or their place of work.”
