£500k burglary gang who raided Swindon homes jailed for 37 years

A sixth gang member, who stored stolen cash and jewellery for them and was in the area of a number of the burglaries when were committed, was jailed for 13 months but will be released immediately having already served his time while in remand in custody.

Their crimewave included raids on an auctioneers in Sevenhampton, three Swindon homes as well as one each in Highworth and Faringdon.

At Bristol Crown Court, Judge Michael Cullum commended Acting Sergeant Kirsty Iliffe, DC Mark Johnson and an anonymous civilian, for their work investigating.

The gang, all from Cheltenham, carried out burglaries across Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and Berkshire between August 2019 and February 2020.

The six men sentenced at the end of a three-day hearing were: David Benyon, 32, of Dinas Road, Josh Brammer, 26, of Clarke Way, Sonny Curran, 32, of Clevedon Square, Jason Hawkins, 28, of Shurdington Road, Ryan McCormick, 35, of Clyde Crescent and Max Smith, 28, of Ruby Avenue, Bishops Cleeve.

The Butwell and Jones Jewellers in Tewkesbury’s High Street, which was targeted on 10 August 2019

All but Hawkins admitted two charges of conspiracy to burgle, one charge of conspiracy to steal and an additional burglary charge.

All defendants, including Hawkins, pleaded guilty to transferring criminal property.

Curran, Smith and McCormick and Benyon further admitted an additional burglary charge.

The court was told Hawkins had a lesser role because he played no physical part in the burglaries - but was always in the area when a crime was being committed by other gang members. Stolen jewellery and cash was found at his home.

Prosecutor Robin Shellard said: “The estimated cost of the offending is £616,650. This is made up of the loss of items £508,000 and the damage caused to property amounted to £107,000.

“These figures do not include business interruption costs. One of the burglaries was of a Post Office which suffered a loss of income of £50,000 due to the damage done.

The attempted ram raid the Bourton on the Water Post Office on August 29, 2019

“For some victims the loss was too much to bear and they went out of business.

“The total value of the stolen vehicles was around £238,471 with most of the cars being recovered - although in many instances they were damaged."

Mahan Mann, defending Benyon, said his client had shown significant remorse and now realised the impact the burglaries had on the victims.

Lloyd Jenkins, for Smith, said he was a family man with no similar previous convictions. He had got caught up in the burglaries as a means to pay for his drug addiction.

James Tucker, representing Brammer, Curran and McCormick, said they were all family men with children and had shown significant remorse having realised the impact of being burgled on the victims.

Sarah Jenkins, for Hawkins, said he was of previous good character and had played only a limited role in the offending.

Beynon was sentenced to eight years and four months; Curran received a prison term of seven years and six months; Brammer and Smith were jailed for seven years while McCormick received a sentence of seven years and four months.

Hawkins was sentenced to one year and one month and was told that because of time served on remand he would be immediately released.

A stolen VW

Judge Michael Cullum told the defendants: “The headline figure is over half a million pounds loss of personal property and your actions have caused over £100,000 worth of damage.

“These figures do not properly describe the misery you have caused to the home and business owners. The callousness behind your criminality means your references about jobs and work ethic have little effect in any real mitigation.

“You have chosen serious and organised crime as your career to date.

“There are many individual stories of the victims’ losses. Wedding rings were stolen.

“There were tales of misery inflicted on commercial premises. These were not burglaries without a victim. You nearly destroyed Bourton on the Water Post Office in the process and the family living above the shop."

The gang inside the Butwell and Jones Jewellers in Tewkesbury’s High Street, which was targeted on 10 August 2019

“A pensioner supplementing her income by selling jewellery had to close her business having lost uninsured stock. On two occasions individuals were assaulted during the burglaries.

“The sentences I will be passing are far in excess of the guidelines due to the volume of burglaries for which Beynon was involved in 29; Curran in 25; Brammer in 23; Smith in 29 and McCormick in 34.”

All defendants will face a proceeds of crime hearing on July 13 when the court will assess what assets they have that can be confiscated. Some will also face criminal prevention order proceedings.

WHERE THE GANG STRUCK IN WILTSHIRE

Among the burglaries attributed to the gang were...

On September 24, 2019 a house in Squires Road, Watchfield, near  Shrivenham, Wiltshire, was burgled after gang members cut the wires to the CCTV camera. 

The items stolen included designer handbags, bracelets, necklaces, watches, golf clubs, cash and the keys to a new Ford Ranger Wildtrak which was driven away by one of the crooks - although a Mercedes was left behind.

The stolen Ford was subsequently recovered from the Gloucester Old Spot public house on Tewkesbury Rd, Cheltenham on February 24, 2020. The gang made an untidy search of the house and stole £3,600 worth of jewellery and other items.

On October 13, 2019 at 9.15pm there was a burglary at Kidson-Trigg auctioneers in Sevenhampton, Swindon. 

Three doors were smashed open by the gang to gain entry and items of jewellery valued at £11,000 were stolen. 

The damage to the property amounted to £3,000.

Seized cash in Jason Hawkins' loft

On November 2, the gang targeted a property at Windrush, Highworth, Swindon at 8.40pm. 

They broke into a home where the owner confronted them and was assaulted. He chased them out of the property and tried to open the door of his Skoda Octavia car as they sped off in it. The vehicle contained over £2,000 of work items. The vehicle was recovered in All Saints Road in Cheltenham, sporting false number plates.

The Wessex Auction Rooms near Chippenham were targeted by the gang on December 5, 2019 at around 8pm when the security guard was confronted by three men wearing balaclavas. One of the gang used a fire extinguisher to smash his way in and sprayed the security guard with the foam. The gang made off with about £60,000 worth of jewellery.

On December 28 a property in Fairfields in Swindon was targeted by the gang and the following day another property in nearby Elm Drive was entered and jewellery and other items valued at £7,000 including wedding rings and diamond necklaces were stolen.
The year ended on December 31 with the gang getting into a home in Tweed Close in Swindon. The car keys were located and the occupant’s Mini was stolen from the driveway. CCTV revealed that the three offenders had driven off in it. 

WHAT THE POLICE AND CPS SAID

After the sentencing of the gang Acting Sergeant Kirsty Illife said: “This group of criminals inflicted a huge amount of misery on numerous individuals and I am glad to see they have been taken off the streets of Gloucestershire.

“The investigation to track down those responsible and gather evidence which spanned 42 individual burglaries has been painstaking and complex.

“A significant degree of planning took place by the gang, who went equipped with tools when they targeted specific premises in order to ransack people’s homes, as well as auction houses, jewellers and a post office.

A crowbar used by the gang

“The level of distress and upset caused to the victims is unimaginable. In some cases violence was used against them, and people were faced with balaclava-clad burglars in their own homes. Sentimental and irreplaceable items were stolen, but on top of that more than £100,000 worth of damage was caused to people’s homes and businesses.

“This was a meticulous and lengthy investigation and we worked together with the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure those involved were brought to justice.”

CPS specialist fraud prosecutor Anamarie Coomansingh said: “This gang invaded people’s homes and their privacy as well as businesses, stealing high value property, with no regard for their victims. The harm to these victims cannot be understated, some have lost their livelihoods and others have been left feeling unsafe in their homes.

“We were able to work with Gloucestershire Constabulary to piece together this gangs involvement in more than 40 burglaries by analysing mobile phone usage before, during and after each break-in which showed a similar pattern.”