Burglary haul worth £500,000 say police

The haul of items stolen by two Polish men during hundreds of burglaries across the country – including dozens of homes in Shropshire and Mid Wales – could be worth in excess of £500,000, police have claimed.

Detective Inspector Diane Davies of Dyfed-Powys Police said it was believed Ryszard Elert and Krzyszstof Karmaciuk, both from Poland, had taken property and possessions worth more than half a million pounds.

They carried out 114 burglaries between October 2010 and December last year.

The men were both jailed for seven years on Friday.

DI Davies, the officer in charge of the investigation, also praised the efforts of other police forces in helping to provide information about Elert and Karmaciuk.

The gang operated from Wiltshire and carried out burglaries at homes in North Wales, Dyfed-Powys, Gwent, West Mercia and Cheshire police authority areas.

More than £300,000 of goods is known to have been taken during the raids, including £77,000 from homes in West Mercia and £54,500 in Dyfed-Powys.

Homes in Shrewsbury, Welshpool, Newtown, Abermule and Montgomery were among those targeted.

But DI Davies today said it was believed the value of burglaries was actually in excess of £500,000.

She said: "These two men have created hundreds of victims of crime

"The value of the burglaries they have committed is conservatively estimated to be in excess of £500,000.

"This clearly does not take into account the emotional value attached to the property stolen nor indeed the impact on the victims as a result of the offences.

"I am very grateful for the support provided by our colleagues in Gwent, North Wales, West Mercia, Cheshire and Wiltshire," she added.