Shropshire man among gang jailed over theft of Asian gold worth thousands

A crown court judge said that they had caused great concern to the Asian community and they had also targeted the elderly and the vulnerable.

At Mold Crown Court Judge Niclas Parry said that the whole conspiracy involved 37 burglaries in Shropshire, Chester, The Wirral and the Welsh borders.

It was planned, sophisticated, it was "gang crime" and involved the deliberate targeting of property, he said.

One of the men jailed was Mark Bowen, 46, of Western Avenue, Whittington, near Oswestry, who admitted handling stolen goods and money laundering.

Described as a legitimate businessman, who was said to have bought a £55,000 yellow Lamborghini in a mid life crisis, he was jailed for 27 months.

The court heard that he had not handled all the gang's proceeds but it was estimated that it may have been in the region of £20,000 worth.

The gang operated in Oswestry, Chester and Stoke along with North Wales and even used walkie talkies to co-ordinate their raids.

Stolen cars had been used during the burglaries and the court heard that men got clothes from charity shops – including Beatles wigs – to disguise themselves.

They were forensically aware, with evidence of scenes being cleaned, latex gloves being used and bleach being poured to prevent possible detection. Many bleach bottles were recovered from the vehicles used.

Property to the value of more than £100,000 had been stolen.

Asian families' homes were deliberately targeted, the judge said, because offenders rightly believed that high value gold would be in their homes.

"The conspiracy caused great concern to the Asian community," he said.

Among the victims were a couple who had suffered the loss of two daughters and the burglary at their home had set back their recovery.

The judge said that he took into account that no violence or weapons had been used and there were no injuries.

Judge Parry commended the police investigation, adjourned applications for criminal behaviour orders and set Proceeds of Crime timetables to see if some of the monies can be recovered.

Eight men admitted the conspiracy.

John Purcell, 24, of King's Road, Connah's Quay, admitted involvement in 13 burglaries where nine Asian families were targeted and was jailed for five years.

Michael McGuire, 47 of Homestead Lane, Wrexham was involved in 22 burglaries. He had a previous conviction for conspiring to burgle and he was jailed for six-and-a-half years.

Kevin Joseph McGuire, 34, of Blackburn, involved towards the end of the conspiracy, also received six-and-a-half years.

John James Purcell, 29, of Ruthin Road Caravan Site in Wrexham, involved in nine burglaries, received six years.

Stephen Berry, now 18, but 17 at the time, who comes from Wrexham, received two years youth detention. He was involved in 16 burglaries.

Francis McGuire, 32, of Bryn Golau, North Wales, involved in seven burglaries over two days, got five-and-a-half years.

Miles Berry, 24, of King's Road, Connah's Quay, received five years.

Miles Delaney, 32, of the Ruthin Road caravan site, was cleared of the conspiracy but admitted two burglaries. He had previously been jailed for seven years for a burglary conspiracy and received five years.

He would travel to Birmingham to sell gold in his luxury vehicle.