'Gang' of professional criminals burgled Shropshire homes, court told

Grazvydas Kasarauskas, 34, Giedrius Batutis, 33, Tomas Juospaitis, 31 and Gytis Dambauskas, 30, all of no fixed abode each deny a single charge of conspiracy to burgle between July 28 and October 9, 2015.

The four Eastern European men appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday for the start of their trial, which is expected to last for up to two weeks.

Miss Mary Loram, prosecuting, opened the case by telling jurors there was a wealth of evidence linking the four men with a spate of burglaries across Shropshire, Hereford and Worcestershire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire.

"Between July and October last year there were a number of burglaries at properties in Oswestry, Ludlow, Wem, Shrewsbury, Pant and Morda as well as in Mold, Cheadle, Hereford, Ledbury, Upton-on-Severn, Nantwich, Winsford, Worcester, Derby and Rugby," she said.

"We say that all these burglaries were committed by the same criminal gang.

"We say that these four defendants were part of that criminal gang.

"They may not gave been the the only ones but each of them played a part. They may not have been present at each and every burglary but that does not matter.

"They were part of a team and there was a conspiracy to burgle.

"This was the work of one organised and professional gang of criminals and these four defendants were part of that gang.

"There are a number of reasons why we know these burglaries were the work of the same team.

"The detail of these burglaries is what is distinctive. The homes targeted were often the homes of the retired, bungalows in a quiet residential area.

"The occupants were away on holiday.

"The gang were good at selecting their targets. The houses were empty and another common feature is that the curtains were closed.

"But what was a constant throughout these burglaries is that iPads, laptops and similar portable objects, often the first choice of a burglar, were left behind.

"What was taken time and again was gold and silver jewellery. These were professionals only after specific, high value, items."

She added that the four men, who relied on interpreters during the court hearing, were only caught when officers from West Mercia Police started to see a pattern in reported crimes and turned their attention to modern technology which linked the four with cars used in the burglaries.

Mobile phone mapping and SATNAV data were also retrieved along with DNA evidence and footprints left by their shoes at the crime scenes which linked the men to a huge number of burglaries.

The trial continues.