Two men have been jailed after detectives pieced together complex strands of evidence to link them to a high-value jewellery heist in Nottingham.
Approximately £180k worth of jewellery was stolen when several masked intruders raided Levins Fine Jewellery, in Upper Parliament Street, in the early hours of 4 February 2024.
A court heard the heist was “expertly executed” and “professionally planned” – and that a lack of DNA evidence and fingerprints left detectives with a complicated task to identify suspects.
The CCTV system had also been disabled by the burglars.
However, meticulous analysis of traffic cameras and mobile phone data – carried out over hundreds of hours – enabled detectives to identify a number of suspects.
Several properties were subsequently raided and damning evidence seized, including a mobile phone that contained an image of a ring stolen from the jewellery shop (below).
The judge sentenced Grigore, 40, of Rosetta Road, Basford, Nottingham, to two years and six months in prison, while Tagarici, 45, of Sandhurst Road, Bedford, was jailed for two years and three months.
Popa, 54, of Talbot Road, Luton, received a conditional discharged for 18 months for receiving stolen goods, with the judge accepting she had not taken part in the heist itself and that her involvement had been “opportunistic”.
At the conclusion of the hearing, prosecuting counsel Andy Peet placed on record his admiration for the police investigation, explaining to the judge: “It was, from what I have seen, a comprehensive investigation without which it would have been difficult to prosecute anyone.”
Judge Coupland agreed, describing the investigative work as “particularly skillful.”
Following the sentencing, Detective Constable Ben Grayson, who led the investigation, said:
“With no CCTV footage capturing the burglary, no eyewitnesses, and no forensic evidence from the outset, it was always going to be a challenge to catch up with the people responsible.
“Ultimately though, hundreds of hours of inquiries – including meticulous reviews of phone data and painstaking CCTV analysis – resulted in a number of suspects being identified.
“Further investigation confirmed the location of the suspects, some being out of the country, and subsequently these inquiries led to their arrests.
“One of the suspects, Christi Grigore, flew back into the UK four weeks after the burglary, seemingly believing the coast was clear, only to be arrested at Stansted Airport after he stepped off the plane.
“This case demonstrates that even when perpetrators conceal their faces and ensure that no forensic evidence is left at the scene, Nottinghamshire Police still has the capability and tenacity to identify, arrest and charge them, and put them before the courts.”
A Proceeds of Crime Hearing will take place next year.
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