Leeds gang jailed for for £1.5m thefts from parked lorries

Eight people have been jailed for stealing more than £1.5m worth of goods from lorries across the country.

The Leeds-based gang cut open side panels of vehicles or forced open doors as drivers took rest breaks at motorway service stations.

On some occasions drivers who tried to intervene were threatened with knives and metal bars, police said.

Two of the gang were also jailed for their part in a ram-raid on a Leeds jewellers in October 2017.

Stolen goods from the lorries included alloy wheels, power tools, hair straighteners, cosmetics, jewellery and clothing.

West Yorkshire Police caught the gang after tracking vehicles and mobile phones.

Raids on properties and storage units recovered thousands of pounds worth of stolen property.

The gang were found guilty of conspiracy to steal between November 2017 and May 2018 following a trial at Leeds Crown Court.

John Kitchen and Kieran Marshall also ram-raided a Leeds jewellers in in 2017

Two members of the gang were also convicted at a trial in February of taking part in a ram raid on a jewellers in Leeds city centre.

John Kitchen, who was armed with a sledgehammer, threatened staff before stealing a Rolex watch from the window display.

Police said his accomplice, Kieran Marshall, drove a car into the shop's security shutter to stop it closing. He knocked Kitchen down in the process but helped him to avoid being trapped.

Kitchen was also sentenced for the robbery of a travel agents in Leeds in August 2017.

The court heard he was armed with a baseball bat and was tackled by members of the public. He was arrested after his DNA was found on a cap he left behind as he fled the scene.

Insp Mick Preston said: "The ringleaders of this group are prolific criminals with long offending histories who have been negative role models of the worst kind in their communities over a number of years."

The jailed gang members are:

• John Kitchen, 28, of Tarnside Drive, Seacroft, was jailed for 15 years and eight months in relation to the two robberies and the conspiracy to steal from HGVs

• Kieran Marshall, 29, of Farm Road, Seacroft, was sentenced to 14 years and six months for the jewellery shop ram-raid and the HGV thefts

• Liam Bellwood, 33, of Sutherland Terrace, Burmantofts, was jailed for four years and four months for the HGV thefts and for a separate robbery offence in October 2018

• Dominic Bailey, 30, Edison Way, Guiseley, was jailed for four years and six month for his part in the HGV conspiracy

• Kieran Smith, 28, of Scott Hall Avenue, Chapeltown, was sentenced to two years for the HGV thefts

• Shane Henriques, 30, of Grange Close, Hunslet, was sentenced to 19 months for the HGV thefts

• Benjamin McCarron, 31, of Zermatt Street, Chapel Allerton, was given an 18-month suspended sentence for the HGV thefts

• Jade Brannan, 29, of Finch Drive, Colton, was sentenced to 10 months for the HGV thefts