Four men sentenced following Northwich burglary

Four men from Romania who burgled a commercial premises in Northwich have been sentenced.

The men appeared at Chester Crown Court on Friday 17th April, where they were sentenced to the following:

• Oprea Elvis-Paris, 20, of Woodville Road, Leicester - sentenced to eight months
• Renato-Mario Grosu, 18, of Liston Close, Luton - sentenced to eight months
• Florian State, 22, of Trent Road, Luton - sentenced to eight months
• Cezar Tudoran, 30, of Poole Street, Northampton – sentenced to 10 months

A fifth man, Paul Matei, 37, of Liston Close in Luton, appeared at Chester Magistrates’ Court on Friday 27th February where he was sentenced to 12 months in prison.

The five men had all pleaded guilty to burglary at a previous hearing.

The court heard how during the evening of Thursday 19th February, five unknown men gained unauthorised access to a commercial premises on Griffiths Road, Northwich.

Once inside, the men stole £50,000 worth of power tools and copper cabling before fleeing the scene.

The incident was reported to police the next day.

Following enquiries, officers from Northwich Proactive CID identified a white Ford Transit van involved in the incident. The van had travelled from Luton to Northwich and back again on the day of the burglary.

After establishing Matei was insured on the vehicle, officers attended his address in Luton and conducted a search of his home where they recovered a significant quantity of the stolen tools.

Matei was arrested and subsequently charged with the offence of burglary.

Four other men, who we now know to be Elvis-Paris, Grosu, State, and Tudoran, were also arrested at the address and later charged in relation to the incident.

Detective Sergeant John Lyons of Northwich Proactive CID said:

“This burglary involved a significant level of planning, with the offenders travelling halfway across the country to carry out their crime.

“They deliberately targeted a commercial premises, resulting in losses of more than £50,000 worth of equipment and causing considerable disruption to the business.

“However, thanks to the work of our officers from Northwich Proactive CID, the group were quickly identified, traced back to Luton, and subsequently arrested.

“I hope the outcome of this case reassures local residents and businesses of how seriously we take burglary and the lengths we will go to bring offenders to justice.

“Anyone considering travelling to Cheshire to commit crime should be under no illusion, they will be detected, pursued, and held accountable.”