A gang of Eastern European thieves spent a weekend stripping a British factory of more than £43,000 worth of goods. The gang travelled 250 miles from their temporary UK base of Luton to break into Newcastle’s former Nestlé factory in what was a “targeted attack”.
The chocolate giant behind the likes of KitKat closed the factory at the end of 2023, resulting in over 400 job losses, and production of sweet favourites, moved to other UK locations. The site was subsequently sold to Country Style Foods and was being renovated in June last year with contractors on site carrying out the work, Newcastle Crown Court heard. On the evening of Friday June 27, the factory was left secured but when the manager returned on Monday June 30, it was discovered that a burglary had taken place.
A six-strong gang gained entry by cutting a hole in a perimeter fence before smashing their way into the building where they spent three days stripping £30,000 of copper wiring from cables being stored there. They also stole tools worth £2,000 belonging to Country Style Foods and £11,000 equipment and tools belonging to the contractors was stolen from a “secure cage” inside the factory.
Police later discovered the gang had travelled from the Luton area on June 28 in two vehicles – a VW Touran and a Mercedes Sprinter van. CCTV from within the factory showed them trying to cover cameras.
The VW returned to Luton on June 29 containing stolen tools before heading back to Tyneside. The gang were also seen in the area where the copper cabling was stored before they covered the cameras.
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The Sprinter van then moved near the hole in the fence in the early hours of June 30 where the copper was loaded. A receipt was later found for 224 kilos of copper and metal which had been weighed in for £2,260.
Three of the gang have been snared and admitted their role in the theft.
Georgian Dimitru, 21, of no fixed address, Razvan Dorobod, 23, of no fixed address and Andrei Olteanu, 22, of Luton, all pleaded guilty to burglary. Dimitru was jailed for 16 months while Dorobod received 15 months prison. Olteanu will be sentenced at a later date as he failed to attend the hearing.
Dimitru and Dorobod have served seven months on remand so will be due for release from prison imminently but were told they are likely to be deported by the Home Office.
Dimitru said he was in a “poor financial state” and saw it as an easy way to make money whilst living as a “temporarily resident” in the UK. He was “unable to say” when he arrived but had worked in construction in London but “didn’t like the working hours” so turned to the scrap industry.
Dorobod said the idea of breaking into the factory was suggested by an Albanian man and he claimed he didn’t know taking copper wire was criminal.