MEMBERS of an organised crime gang have been sentenced after a series of burglaries at local properties.
The group – made up of Albanian nationals and a British woman – carried out their crimes at 44 locations across the country, including Abbots Bromley, Hill Ridware, Kings Bromley and Barton-under-Needwood.
Police believe the gang took more than £1million of items during the burglaries – with many still not recovered.
A multi-force operation saw a series of raids in Walsall, Sutton Coldfield and Birmingham after DNA linked one of the group to the crimes.
Almost £17,000 was found, including 13 designer handbags and 14 watches.
The gang have now been jailed collectively for more than 38 years:
- Sidorjan Lleshi, 26 of Sheffield, was jailed for ten-years-and-nine-months for conspiracy to commit burglary, one count of burglary and conspiracy to possess criminal property. An additional 15 counts of burglary were also taken into consideration.
- Krisjian Dedndreaj, 28 of Walsall, was jailed for nine years for conspiracy to commit burglary and a concurrent sentence of five years for conspiracy to possess criminal property.
- George Pepa, 31 of Walsall, was jailed for nine years for conspiracy to commit burglary and a concurrent sentence of four-and-a-half-years for conspiracy to possess criminal property.
- Kristian Gropcaj, 30 of Birmingham, was jailed for 10 years for conspiracy to commit burglary and a concurrent sentence of five-and-a-half-years for conspiracy to possess criminal property.
- Jade Tubb, 33 of Coventry, was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years, for possession of criminal property.
A sixth defendant – 29-year-old Endrit Nikolli – is due to be sentenced on 29th April.
Detective Constable Grant Dixon said:
“Officers and staff from various police forces have all put significant effort into making sure this group were stopped in their tracks and brought to justice today.
“It is not lost on me the extent of the damage they have caused to different people across the UK, both from a financial and emotional perspective.
“We have worked tirelessly to make sure that the evidence presented in court was irrefutable, meaning that they had no other choice but to confront what they have done in court.
“I’m pleased we’ve been able to deliver this outcome collectively. We’ve worked together to put a prolific group of offenders behind bars – and we’ll continue to do that against those who are still out there committing burglaries in our communities.”
