November 4, 2009
Op Pleat - 40 Years In Total For Car Gang
The tenth man accused of being part of a conspiracy to burgle houses and steal high value cars from driveways and sold them in Poland has been jailed for five years and four months.
Nine other members of the gang were jailed last week for a total of 35 years at Luton Crown Court under Operation Pleat, for targeting homes across Beds and Herts where 23 cars and property were stolen in 19 burglaries last summer, worth more than £1.5 million.
The operation was a joint initiative between the Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire forces. The cars taken were Mercedes, Volvos, BMWs and a Jaguar. Other property taken from the houses included a laptop containing business records and contacts, five World War I medals, and a family's luggage packed ready for a holiday that very morning.
On Tuesday 3 November Dennis Skiller, 28, of Hillborough Crescent, Houghton Regis, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to burgle. He maintained he was only involved in four burglaries.
Judge Richard Foster said he regarded Skiller as a 'professional career burglar,' who is already serving a 54-month sentence for two other burglaries. He told him: "You have an horrific history of criminal conduct. Your record is full of dwelling house burglaries."
But the judge accepted the offences were committed against a back ground of drug addiction and that Skiller was now doing well in prison and trying to turn his life around.
The gang included:
- Abdul Shakoor Hussain, 26, of Pioneer Avenue, Burton Latimer was sentenced to eight years for conspiracy to commit burglaries and conspiracy to transfer criminal property
- John McCulloch, 28, of Regent Street, Bletchley sentenced to six years for conspiracy to commit burglaries
- Jumroz Khan, 30, of Conduit Road, Bedford, sentenced to three years for conspiracy to commit burglaries
- Pawel Wodecki, 29, of Hatton Park Road, Wellingborough, sentenced to six years for conspiracy to transfer criminal property out of the UK
- Zbigniew Marcin Nowak, 25, of Highfield Road, Wellingborough, sentenced to three and a half years for conspiracy to transfer criminal property out of the UK
- Tomasz Jacek Nowak, 21, of Highfield Road, Wellingborough, sentenced to three years for conspiracy to transfer criminal property out of the UK
- Ricky England, 21, of Gordon Road, Wellingborough, sentenced to two years for conspiracy to transfer criminal property out of the UK
- Matthew Harrison, 21, of Knox Road, Wellingborough sentenced to two years for conspiracy to transfer criminal property out of the UK
- David Clatworthy, 23, of High Street Rushden, sentenced to 18 months for conspiracy to transfer criminal property out of the UK
After sentencing DI Jon Gilbert, who led the investigation said: “This was a difficult and complex investigation. I want to pay tribute to my colleagues across all three forces who worked professionally and tirelessly over many months to bring this gang to justice.
“We hope this case reassures the public of our ability to dismantle organised crime operations and put offenders who think they are untouchable where they belong – behind bars.”
