The group carried out 19 raids on businesses including in Walsall and Telford, Northamptonshire, Exeter and Tamworth between October 1, 2019 and February 16, 2022, in a “professional operation”, prosecutor Andrew Wallace told the court yesterday.
The items they stole included large quantities of coffee, alcohol, baby milk, a dehumidifier and a large quantity of electric bicycles from a business in Halesfield, Telford, which they revisited because they were so happy with their haul.
They used a white Scania tractor trailer with cloned number plates until it was stopped by police and replaced it with a yellow Mercedes. In all cases, they traveled in convoy and broke into the property using tools later found in their vehicles.
After breaking into Globex Transport in Walsall in the early hours of July 1, 2021, members of the gang stole £20,000 worth of toilet paper that was due to be delivered in Poundland while people were stocking it during the coronavirus pandemic.
Several of the nine convicted of theft and conspiracy to steal played major or minor roles in the operation, which Judge Michael Chambers said cost the companies involved more than £2 million, taking into account higher insurance premiums and increased security . .
Ian Mottram, aged 33, of Gurney Road, Walsall; Richard Pearson, aged 38, of Castlecroft Road, Wolverhampton; Wayne Summers, aged 38, of Peartree Avenue Tipton; Gary Harvey, aged 37, of Bassett Road Wednesbury; Christopher Aston, aged 33, from Hodder Grove, West Bromwich; Luke Selman, aged 28, of Hawbush Road Walsall; James Harvey, aged 39, of Sycamore Road Tipton; Spencer Howell, aged 50, of Thursfield Road, West Bromwich, and Stuart Thomas, aged 43, of Mark Road, Wednesbury, had already pleaded guilty to their part in the operation.
Judge Chambers told them during the two-day sentencing to expect prison sentences.