A judge warned eastern European criminals today that British courts would not be a 'soft touch' as he jailed a Romanian gang for a £1 million gold robbery campaign.
The ten gang members came to the UK specifically to commit the crimes and had not done a day’s legitimate work while here, Old Bailey Judge Timothy Pontius said.
He gave them sentences totalling 82 years and ten months despite the young crooks pleading guilty and having no previous convictions.
They were also told they would be deported after serving their sentences.
The judge said the gang had entered the UK as European Union citizens with the intention of robbing jewellery shops of large amounts of high-quality gold.
Only a fraction of their haul had been recovered from the six raids or attempted raids - leaving the robbers with £1 million.
Judge Pontius said: 'None of the defendants appear to have done an honest day’s work while they were here. All will be deported, and rightly so.'
He said there were fears an influx of people from Romania and Bulgaria when restrictions are lifted next year would lead to an increase in crime.
And the judge warned: 'Anyone who comes to the UK - irrespective of whatever part of the world - wanting to commit serious crime, must clearly understand such abuse of the hospitality of this country and its people must be seriously punished.
'It follows that the more grave the crime, the more severe the retribution will be. No one should think for a moment that courts in the UK will be a soft touch.
'Sentences such as these must be a powerful deterrent not only to home-grown but imported criminals.'
The gang carried out seven raids in six months, emptying display cabinets and fleeing in minutes before police could respond to alarms.
They were caught after police kept watch on a makeshift campsite they were using on waste ground near the A12 in Essex.
After being arrested, Ovidiu Gabor, 25, told police: 'I don’t care, I go to prison to go on holiday.'
The gang pleaded guilty to conspiracy to rob.
Jonathan Polnay, prosecuting, said: 'This was a sophisticated, well-planned conspiracy deliberately targeting jewellers.
'All the defendants are Romanian. These are all relatively young men who came to this country to rob.'
They targeted Asian and Turkish jewellers where there was a large quantity of high-carat gold which could be melted down and sold.
The usual plan involved one of the gang, dressed in pin-stripes and a trilby hat, being buzzed in and holding the door for an accomplice to smash his way in with a sledgehammer.
The rest of the gang would then run in and smash display cabinets with bats and hammers before fleeing with gold jewellery.
They would make off over railway lines, discarding their weapons and outer clothing.
The gang netted more than £1.1 million last year but only £135,580 has been recovered.
In March last year, £500,000 of goods was taken from a shop in Wembley, north London, which was 'trashed'. Nothing was recovered.
A month later, part of a £248,648 haul was found in a hole which the gang had dug to hide evidence near a shop in Ilford, east London, said Mr Polnay.
In August, £341,435 of goods was taken from a shop in East Ham, east London.
Two other attempted robberies were abandoned and the gang were captured after being caught red-handed during a £62,580 robbery in Turnpike Lane, north London, in September.
An elderly man was injured when he was struck with a hammer before Flying Squad officers made arrests using Taser guns.
Judge Pontius said the scale of the robberies was 'unusual if not unique'.
He added: 'Clearly the conspiracy was in existence at the time the defendants entered the country.'
They were executed 'swiftly and efficiently' and cabinets cleared with 'ruthless determination'.
Marius Barbu, 25, Vasile Batarga, 23, Ioan Gavrilit, 26, and Iulian Culba, 22, were each jailed for nine years and four months.
Iulian Roman, 21, was jailed for nine years and six months which included a concurrent sentence of seven years for a £1 million raid on a jewellers in February last year.
Constantin Irina, 30, was jailed for eight years, and Georghe Macovei, 23, and Ovidiu Gabor, 25, for seven years.
Puiu-Danut Paunescu, 26, was jailed for seven years and three months, and Catalin Paise, 20, for six years and nine months.
The ten gang members came to the UK specifically to commit the crimes and had not done a day’s legitimate work while here, Old Bailey Judge Timothy Pontius said.
He gave them sentences totalling 82 years and ten months despite the young crooks pleading guilty and having no previous convictions.
They were also told they would be deported after serving their sentences.
The judge said the gang had entered the UK as European Union citizens with the intention of robbing jewellery shops of large amounts of high-quality gold.
Only a fraction of their haul had been recovered from the six raids or attempted raids - leaving the robbers with £1 million.
Judge Pontius said: 'None of the defendants appear to have done an honest day’s work while they were here. All will be deported, and rightly so.'
He said there were fears an influx of people from Romania and Bulgaria when restrictions are lifted next year would lead to an increase in crime.
And the judge warned: 'Anyone who comes to the UK - irrespective of whatever part of the world - wanting to commit serious crime, must clearly understand such abuse of the hospitality of this country and its people must be seriously punished.
'It follows that the more grave the crime, the more severe the retribution will be. No one should think for a moment that courts in the UK will be a soft touch.
'Sentences such as these must be a powerful deterrent not only to home-grown but imported criminals.'
The gang carried out seven raids in six months, emptying display cabinets and fleeing in minutes before police could respond to alarms.
They were caught after police kept watch on a makeshift campsite they were using on waste ground near the A12 in Essex.
After being arrested, Ovidiu Gabor, 25, told police: 'I don’t care, I go to prison to go on holiday.'
The gang pleaded guilty to conspiracy to rob.
Jonathan Polnay, prosecuting, said: 'This was a sophisticated, well-planned conspiracy deliberately targeting jewellers.
'All the defendants are Romanian. These are all relatively young men who came to this country to rob.'
They targeted Asian and Turkish jewellers where there was a large quantity of high-carat gold which could be melted down and sold.
The usual plan involved one of the gang, dressed in pin-stripes and a trilby hat, being buzzed in and holding the door for an accomplice to smash his way in with a sledgehammer.
The rest of the gang would then run in and smash display cabinets with bats and hammers before fleeing with gold jewellery.
They would make off over railway lines, discarding their weapons and outer clothing.
The gang netted more than £1.1 million last year but only £135,580 has been recovered.
In March last year, £500,000 of goods was taken from a shop in Wembley, north London, which was 'trashed'. Nothing was recovered.
A month later, part of a £248,648 haul was found in a hole which the gang had dug to hide evidence near a shop in Ilford, east London, said Mr Polnay.
In August, £341,435 of goods was taken from a shop in East Ham, east London.
Two other attempted robberies were abandoned and the gang were captured after being caught red-handed during a £62,580 robbery in Turnpike Lane, north London, in September.
An elderly man was injured when he was struck with a hammer before Flying Squad officers made arrests using Taser guns.
Judge Pontius said the scale of the robberies was 'unusual if not unique'.
He added: 'Clearly the conspiracy was in existence at the time the defendants entered the country.'
They were executed 'swiftly and efficiently' and cabinets cleared with 'ruthless determination'.
Marius Barbu, 25, Vasile Batarga, 23, Ioan Gavrilit, 26, and Iulian Culba, 22, were each jailed for nine years and four months.
Iulian Roman, 21, was jailed for nine years and six months which included a concurrent sentence of seven years for a £1 million raid on a jewellers in February last year.
Constantin Irina, 30, was jailed for eight years, and Georghe Macovei, 23, and Ovidiu Gabor, 25, for seven years.
Puiu-Danut Paunescu, 26, was jailed for seven years and three months, and Catalin Paise, 20, for six years and nine months.
Source: DailyMail
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