Cement mixer- part of £1 million haul of stolen vehicles and equipment. Image: Met Police
Three men who stole 13 lorries and two cement mixers worth in excess of £1 million have been jailed for over 12 years at Snaresbrook Crown Court.
On 17th November 2014 the three men were observed by police surveying a cement mixing yard in Silvertown Way, Newham.
They gained entry to the yard and stole two cement mixing lorries worth a total of £360,000.
Police tracked both vehicles to separate locations where they had been left overnight to ensure there was no activation of a vehicle tracker.
The following morning, police recovered the vehicles, one in Spilsby Road, Havering and the second in a scrap yard to the rear of a premises in Five Oaks Lane, Redbridge.
Both vehicles had false number plates fitted to them.
The yard was being run by Patrick Bailey, who lived in a caravan on the site.
The following day 18th November 2014, officers searched the yard and found parts from seven stolen lorries.
Police also searched the home of Leslie Delemere; a caravan on an industrial estate in Empson Street, Bow.
Inside the caravan, officers found a stun gun and a substantial amount of class B drugs.
Telephone data was used to link the gang to a total of 13 high-value lorry thefts across London and the South East of England.
The three men were convicted of conspiracy to steal.
Detective Sergeant Dan Jackson of the Metropolitan Police’s Central Task Force, said:
This successful investigation has disrupted the activities of a prolific crime network, which caused great distress to its victims. The financial implications on the victims has been immense – some people have lost their livelihoods as a result of these men’s crimes. These convictions reinforce the message that the Met Police continues to target organised criminal networks and its associated criminality.
The officers who investigated the case, DS Dan Jackson and DS Mark Dennett were commended by the judge.
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