Two Leeds men have been jailed after their "well-planned" raid on a parked up lorry was thwarted by police.
A gang of four men were involved in the early hours attack at the Euroway trading estate in Bradford, which took place 11 days before Christmas in 2021, and was carried out while the unsuspecting lorry driver was asleep in his cab.
Judge Sophie McKone said the gang, all from Leeds, had used a stolen van with cloned plates as their getaway vehicle in the raid which had targeted boxes of conditioner worth £32,000. She said the four defendants had travelled from Leeds and had been wearing high-visibility garments to make it look like they worked at the location.
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During a hearing at Bradford Crown Court on Wednesday, Judge McKone was shown CCTV footage of the gang’s van reversing up to the rear of the lorry and boxes being transferred as police cars arrived on the scene having been alerted by security staff.
Richard Lawn, 39, who was said to have played a leading role in the theft, was found hiding under the lorry trailer by officers and his three accomplices were also arrested at the scene. Lawn, of Balm Place, Leeds, was jailed for 22 months after he admitted the theft charge.
Jacob Cross, 28, of Throstle Terrace, Leeds, who had been recruited as the driver by Lawn, was locked up for a year after he admitted the same charge. Ellis Burgham, 21, of Gilpin Terrace, Leeds, also pleaded guilty to theft.
The court heard he had no previous convictions and his eight-month jail sentence was suspended for 18 months, but he will also have to do 250 hours unpaid work for the community.
A fourth defendant Jamie Barker, 35, of Broom Gardens, Leeds had also admitted theft, but the judge was told a bench warrant was still outstanding for him after he failed to turn up for an earlier court hearing.
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