The investigation into a series of robberies began after officers received a report that an elderly woman, aged 96 years old, was violently robbed and her jewellery stolen from her at her home address in Little Hulton.
The victim, who has died since, used to enjoy travelling to the city centre using the buses to walk and have coffees with her friends and family.
On August 1, the victim was doing just that, meeting family members in the city centre for a coffee and at around 6pm, she was ready to leave and travel home.
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She travelled on the bus from Manchester Piccadilly which arrived at a bus stop near her home in Little Hulton at 7.10pm.
Mihaylov had followed her from Piccadilly Gardens back to her home address in Little Hulton.
When the victim entered her home, Mihaylov forcibly grabbed her necklace before ripping it from her neck.
The victim quickly went to one of her neighbours to seek refuge and call the police.
An investigation was quickly launched into this incident by officers in Salford’s Neighbourhood Crime Team, who started to piece together CCTV from this incident to locate the unknown male offender.
On August 26, another 82-year-old victim was in the city centre, she also loved to come to the city centre to go shopping and visit her friends at local cafés.
After she went shopping, she started to walk home, and as she walked down Trinity Way, she took a short cut.
When she was halfway down the street, she felt a punch to her stomach and was pushed to the ground.
Mihaylov, in the same way as the previous offence, grabbed her jewellery from round her neck and grabbed her ears to take her earrings.
In fear for her life, the victim shouted ‘I’ll give it to you’.
Following the report being made, officer’s were quickly deployed to support the victim, and Crime Scene Investigators attended to take swabs from the victim’s ears and neck area, both of these areas were where her jewellery was forcibly taken from her, and DNA samples were sent off for analysis.
The DNA came back as a match on the national database and Kiril Mihaylov was declared as a suspect for the two robberies.
CCTV footage was quickly located and viewed by officers in Salford’s Neighbourhood Crime Team which clearly showed a man whose face was covered, following the victim home as she walked from the city centre.
A linked robbery series was identified after officers noticed the similarity of the two robberies
The day after, on 27 August, at a property in Salford, a burglary was reported by an 80-year-old man who was out shopping in the city centre during the day.
He returned home at around 3pm and a couple of hours later at 7pm he went upstairs to sleep before waking up at 11pm when he noticed his high-value watch was missing from his bedside table.
Upon seeing that the watch was missing, he began to search the house for it, assuming he had misplaced it.
When going downstairs, he discovered that his patio doors had been smashed and a man was stood in his property with a large knife in his hand. The victim reported that the man walked slowly and calmly out of the property before fleeing the area.
Through evidence taken from previous robberies and after conducting a number of CCTV enquiries, Kiril Mihaylov was arrested for two robberies and a burglary.
Following a search of Mihaylov’s property, distinctive clothing he wore during the offences that matched CCTV was located.
Officers also seized his mobile phone which had pictures of stolen items, a search history of how to sell these items and details of sending a stolen Omega watch to Bulgaria.
The Omega watch belonging to one of the victims was found to be in transit to Mihaylov’s family in Bulgaria.
Officers in the Neighbourhood Crime Team liaised with other law enforcement agencies and coordinated to have the watch seized and returned to the UK.
This resulted in the watch being reunited back with the victim.
Kiril Mihaylov of Hamilton Road was sentenced on Monday 3 March 2025 to eight years at Manchester Crown Court for two robbery offences and a residential burglary offence.
Detective Inspector Michael Sharples of Salford’s Neighbourhood Crime Team, said: “Mihaylov’s actions were cowardly, he would systematically prey on elderly people who he saw going about their daily lives in the city centre and would follow them home thinking they would be an easy target.
“As a team, we cannot thank the victims enough, for coming forward and supporting our investigation. Their involvement has helped us secure enough evidence to convict Mihaylov, and ensure he cannot harm anyone else.
“These incidents were particularly shocking as he targeted elderly people. When speaking with the victims, we could sense just how much they valued their independence, and their days out to the city centre. Mihaylov’s actions have left them shaken and questioning their safety.
“I hope that by knowing he is now behind bars, this will provide them with a small measure of comfort, and that they will continue to confidently go about their daily lives, doing what they enjoy the most.”
