Telford burglar jailed after selling £50,000 of car parts for £776

Jack Moreton handled goods stolen from Telford factory Cobra Seats in October 2012 before selling them on for well below their market value, Shrewsbury Crown Court was told.

In total, more than £73,000 of mechanisms were stolen from the Halesfield-based factory – losses which threatened the company's existence and put several jobs at risk.

Moreton, who admitted a charge of handling stolen goods, was also sentenced for two burglaries he carried out in 2013 and two thefts last year when he appeared at court.

Mr Richard Davenport, prosecuting, said the Cobra Seats theft happened over the weekend of October 13 and 14, 2012.

The court heard Moreton had handled about £50,000 of stolen goods from the Cobra Seats burglary and sold them to a scrap metal yard for about £776.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mark Dunsford, managing director of Cobra Seats said: "It brought our production line to a standstill and put the employees' jobs at risk. The financial blow was so large I had to borrow money from my retired parents and use my savings. It was down to the employees, my bank, family and friends that we got through it."

Moreton, 23, from Hills Lane Drive in Madeley, Telford, was also sentenced for two burglaries he admitted being part of. He was involved in a break-in at Safe UK Ltd in Ellesmere on September 9 2013 where computer equipment worth £4,514 and £75 cash was stolen. About £1,000 of damage was also caused.

Mr Davenport said: "Moreton admitted he was part of the burglary but didn't pick anything up."

He was also part of a burglary at Oswestry Golf Club on the same day.

Mr Davenport added: "At that burglary a glass panel was smashed but nothing was taken. The golf club incurred a £1,100 loss.

"Police later discovered three defendants – Jack Moreton, Travis Perkin and Craig Lynas – in a van near the golf club. In the van officers found a balaclava, a screwdriver and gloves."

Moreton was also sentenced for two counts of theft on April 13 last year from Bendigo Mitchell in Kenilworth.

Mr Jonathan Lewis, for Moreton, said: "In handling the stolen goods he didn't appreciate the value of metal he sold."

Moreton was sentenced to 37 months in prison for handling stolen goods, two burglaries and two thefts.

His co-accused on the Safe UK Ltd burglary Craig Lynas, 37, of Beaconsfield, Brookside, Telford, was sentenced to eight months in prison to run concurrent to a sentence he is serving of 42 months for supplying class A drugs.