Gang of four jailed over Shropshire van dealership night raid
A gang of men have been jailed after being caught red-handed during a night-time raid on a Shropshire van dealership.
Four men were each jailed for 16 months after they all admitted theft and burglary at Vanland at the Shell Petrol Station in Sutton Maddock, near Madeley.
Danny Gill, 32, of Tipton, Dale Collins, 21, of Wednesbury, Andrew Parkes, 41, and Kyle Morris-Jones, 26, both of Bilston, were sentenced at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Friday.
They had admitted stealing three vans worth a total of £16,645 and had, on the morning of their sentencing, led police to recover two of the vehicles that had been abandoned for a month.
Mr Kevin Jones, prosecuting, said a witness called the police shortly after 2am on Saturday, July 13.
"He heard a car door opening and saw two men inside the compound. He could hear filing cabinets opening and closing and saw one man get into a large van and another into a smaller van. He saw a third man opening the gates before getting into another van and they were followed by a man in a Peugeot," said Mr Jones.
Police used automatic number plate recognition cameras to trace the Peugeot to Bridgnorth at about 2.24am where the vehicles were seen in convoy.
At 3am the cameras picked up the Peugeot on its way back to Vanland and police caught all four men inside the compound .
One vehicle was recovered but the other two were not found until Friday.
The court heard Gill had 17 convictions for 41 offences including burglaries and Parkes had 21 convictions for 41 dishonesty and violence offences. Collins had 21 convictions for 46 offences including theft and burglaries and Morris-Jones had 11 convictions for 38 offences including burglary.
Mr Desmond Denis, representing all four men, said they had assisted police in recovering the vehicles.
Sentencing Recorder Julian Taylor told the gang: "You all no doubt know this is a custodial sentence. It was a night time burglary, you were in a group and there was obviously some planning."
He ordered the forfeiting of the Peugeot and said they would all serve half of their sentence before being let out on licence.
