Seven bike thieves have been jailed at Cambridge Crown Court after a £70,000 raid at a branch of Rutland Cycling.
Cambridge Constabulary say the gang was caught as they attempted to make their getaway following the raid at the Grafham Water, Rutland branch of the retailer, which trades from 14 stores throughout the East of England and the East Midlands.
Police arrived at the shop within six minutes of receiving a 999 call to a burglary in progress at the premises at 0250hrs on Monday 2 August.
They discovered a Volkswagen Crafter van being driven away from the scene, with the occupants then abandoning the vehicle and attempting to flee on foot.
They were arrested shortly afterwards, as were the occupants of a black Skoda Yeti which had crashed close to the shop.
Officers discovered 23 stolen bikes worth a total of £70,000 inside the van, as well as wrenches an an angle grinder which the gang had used to cut their way through the roller shutters at the shop.
The seven men, all from Birmingham, pleaded guilty at Cambridge Crown Court last Friday to conspiring to commit a burglary with intent to steal.
Two of them – Ryan Griffin, aged 29, and Jamelle Payne, 33, were each jailed for three years and four months.
The other members of the gang – Nazim Latif, aged 23, Nathan Holmes, 25, Shane Thornton, 29, Arron Robinson, 30, and Adam Leek, 38 – were each sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.
Detective Constable Steve Surtees of Cambridgeshire Constabulary said: “These men were not just opportunist thieves, they had planned this burglary, travelling from Birmingham the previous day to scope out the shop before returning with tools to break in and attempting to disguise their identity with dark clothing and masks.
“Thanks to the quick actions of the officers on the day, the bikes were recovered and not able to be sold on and these seven men are now behind bars,” he added.
13 thoughts on “Seven bike thieves jailed after £70k raid on branch of Rutland Cycling”
May I suggest to have ‘m do
May I suggest to have ‘m do an hour of Zwift a day whilst in prison? Perhaps that will teach them a little respect towards the cycling community.
That shop is really out in
That shop is really out in the sticks, just good luck the police were nearby when the call came in. Good result.
I particularly like the way they framed the photo with the crashed getaway car in the background! Skoda Yeti’s get good reviews, but maybe not the best choice for this application.
And from what I’ve read in
And from what I’ve read in the media Birmingham could do with more bikes.
Awesome they got caught and sentenced!
Every single time I’ve looked
Every single time I’ve looked at Rutland Cycling to buy something. They’ve never had it in stock.
So I’m surprised they had £70k worth of stock to nick.
Anyone else thinking that
Anyone else thinking that these bikes are being valued more highly by the justice system than lives ended by momentary losses of concentration by sun blinded people undistracted by phones?
TheBillder wrote:
And people with poor memory (“I don’t remeber hitting the cyclist”).
How do you fit 23 bikes in
How do you fit 23 bikes in one van? OK – I’ve seen the photo.
With a bit of time and care,
With a bit of time and care, you can fit around 45 road bikes in a box van like that. Without even stacking them. Done it on a number of events before
How big do you think the disc
How big do you think the disc on that angle grinder is?
Tom_77 wrote:
I don’t think it’s an angle grinder, it’s a cut-off machine/saw with an abrasive wheel. Looks similar to this one.
https://www.stihlusa.com/products/cut-off-machines/professional-cut-off-machines//ts420/
It can take a 14″ (35.6 cm) disc.
Looks to me as if the disc
Looks to me as if the disc says 300mm, which would be the smaller 12″ size.
https://www.stihl.co.uk/STIHL-Products/Construction-machinery/Petrol-cut-off-machines/21339-510/TS-410-Petrol-Cut-off-Machine.aspx
(But still not actually an angle grinder.)
Looking at the way they
Looking at the way they stacked those bike they could all get jobs as baggage handlers.
Not sure I’d trust them with
Not sure I’d trust them with my luggage, tbh…