Family gang jailed for 250 burglaries in 11 months

(Left to right, top row to bottom) Charlie Webb, Danny Stone-Parker, Joe John Spencer Loveridge, John Eli Loveridge, John Stanley Loveridge, Johnny Oakley, Joseph Holmes, Richard Oakley, Timothy Stone-Parker

A family gang responsible for committing more than 250 burglaries in an 11-month crime spree has been jailed.

The 12 men struck across five counties in the East of England, stealing jewellery, cash, cars and guns worth a total of £2m.

Norfolk's burglary rate halved when the gang, aged 20 to 55, was arrested in December, police said.

A judge at Norwich Crown Court sentenced the men on Thursday.

Members of the group - which included brothers Thomas and James Pateman, and relatives from their extended family - had admitted conspiracy to commit burglary or were convicted last month.

False registration plates

Simon Oakley, 45, of Alburgh Road, Hempnall, Norfolk, received the longest sentence of nine years for conspiracy to burgle, possession of a firearm without a certificate and handling stolen goods.

He owned Stratton Quick Fit, a garage and workshop in Long Stratton, and helped to hide stolen vehicles and pass them off as legitimate.

Oakley also provided false registration plates and directed others to commit crime.

The gang would mask their faces and smash or force open doors or windows to steal specific items such as high-powered BMWs and Audis, firearms, cash and jewellery, police said.

They would dispose of the items through contacts, with false plates put on stolen cars and left in residential parking areas before being used to commit further crimes, police added.

Most were raids on homes, although businesses and cash machines were also targeted.

They carried out most of their crimes in Cambridgeshire and Norfolk, but also spread into Suffolk, Essex and Bedfordshire between February and December 2017.

Det Insp Craig Harrison, who led the investigation, said: "Every one of their crimes had a victim so the trauma and devastation caused in quite a short space of time was immense.

"They clearly had no care at all for the impact their offending was having on communities."

Police began linking offences in east Cambridgeshire in the spring of last year, he added.

Thomas Pateman, Simon Oakley and James Pateman were found guilty at Norwich Crown Court last month, following a trial

The gang favoured homes in rural areas, where they could make easy getaways and stole high-performance vehicles to give themselves a better chance of out-running police.

Brothers Thomas Pateman, 54, of Fen Road, Chesterton, Cambridgeshire and James Pateman, 55, of Woollensbrook, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire were given eight years and three-and-a-half years respectively for handling stolen goods.

Nine men sentenced for conspiracy to commit burglary

• Charlie Albert Webb, 20, from Newton Flotman, Norfolk - five years

• John Eli Loveridge, 42, of Greenways, Carleton Rode, Norfolk - seven-and-a-half years

• John Stanley Loveridge, 23, of Greenways, Carleton Rode, Norfolk - six-and-a-half years

• Joseph Holmes, 21, of Schole Road, Willingham, Cambridgeshire - four years

• Danny Stone-Parker, 28, of Braintree Road, Great Dunmow, Essex - six-and-a-half years

• Timothy Stone-Parker, 24, of Clay Way, Ely, Cambridgeshire - six-and-a-half years

• Joe John Spencer Loveridge, 19, of Winchester Road, Sandy, Bedfordshire - four years

• Richard Oakley, 27, of Sandy Park, Beck Row, Suffolk - five years

• Johnny Oakley, 25, of Sandy Park, Beck Row, Suffolk - five-and-a-half years