Birmingham burglar's notorious gang links make him prized first prisoner for new police op

The first criminal to be jailed as part of a new policing operation has links to notorious Birmingham gangs making him a prize catch for the force. Tesfa Bernard-Wheeler broke into a home in Erdington last month.

Little did the 28-year-old know that a newly formed police team was in the area and ready to pounce at the time. They were on the scene within minutes and managed to arrest Bernard-Wheeler, who initially tried to crouch down by a bush in a front garden before running away.

He was sentenced to one year and eight months at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday, November 8. In 2017 Bernard-Wheeler was exposed as a city gangster. He was one of 18 people associated with the Burger Bar Boys and Johnson Crew served with a landmark court order to crack down on crime.

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Bernard-Wheeler was hit with a civil injunction banning him from large parts of Birmingham and mixing with certain people. In March 2020 he found himself in jail at HMP Birmingham serving a sentence for dangerous driving.

In one incident Bernard-Wheeler barricaded his cell when officers came to search it. They managed to force it open to find his cell-mate who was a convicted robber, with his hand up the toilet goading 'It's long gone now f******'.

But the prison guards had the last laugh by smashing the rear of the loo and finding an iPhone with a SIM card inside. A week later they also recovered an Alcatel phone in a further search.

Bernard-Wheeler was actually due for release when he was caught but it was accepted he had only used the phones to talk to friends and family, and not to engage in further crime. He admitted two counts of possessing a mobile phone in prison and was sentenced to a further six months.

Last year Bernard-Wheeler was named again in a gang-related trial, although he was not a suspect in the case. An image of him wearing a necklace with the number 6219 was shown to the court.

It was explained the figure meant '6 to 19' and indicated gang affiliation to the B6 and B19 postcode areas of Aston and Newtown, respectively. The trial was told Bernard-Wheeler was a member of the GMG - Get Money Gang - known to be an younger off-shot of the Johnson Crew.

On October 8 this year Bernard-Wheeler was caught moments after he burgled a home in Erdington. CCTV captured him trying to hide in a front garden and then running off before he was arrested.

He also left a number of items at the scene including a Sur-Ron bike, gloves, balaclava, screwdrivers, mole grips and £320 in cash. West Midlands Police stated Bernard-Wheeler had 'little choice' but to admit the charge of burglary due to the evidence obtained. The 28-year-old from Sturge Close, Selly Oak was sentenced to one year and eight months at Birmingham Crown Court on November 8.

He is the first crook to be jailed as part of Operation Skybridge, which was launched by the force in September this year to specifically tackle issues that affect communities including robbery, burglary, vehicle and drug-related crime. Sergeant Leon Butler said: "We've already seen the real difference Op Skybridge can make with arrests and the recovery of drugs and weapons across Birmingham.

"We were deployed in Erdington at the time and after being alerted to the burglary we were there within minutes. Bernard-Wheeler tried to run off but he didn't get far, just into a nearby garden. We've not been formed too long and this will be the first of many jail terms we expect to secure in the months to come."