Romanian crime group raided phone stores across North East
A Romanian crime gang raided phone shops across the UK including Vodaphone and O2 in a series of professionally planned "smash and grab" robberies.
Membersstormedstoresin large groups and used "threats and intimidation" to walk off with over £150,000 of phones and computer tablets.
Stores from South Tyneside,Seaham,Hartlepool, CountyDurhamandNorthumberland came under attack.
Newcastle Crown Court heard many of those involved in the criminal network have fled back to Romania.
But two men have admitted conspiracy to rob and are due to be sentenced later this month.
Ionatan Marin, of no fixed address but who was living in Harehills, Leeds, was carrying 13 mobile phones when he was arrested and was heavily involved in the raids.
The 19-year-old, who claimed he was just "lost in North Yorkshire" when the police swooped on him, is already serving a 54-month sentenceforashoprobberywhere a knife was brandished.
He had arrived in the UK in 2018,shortlybeforetheoffending started.
Ionatan Stefan, 18, of Bayswater Row, Harehills, Leeds, played a lesser role and took part in four of the phone shop raids.
Stefan, who now works at Sainsbury's, arrived in the UK in 2007 and was brought up in
aRomanicommunityinLeeds. He was a married college student with two children at the time of the offences.
ProsecutorJonathanWalker told the court the raids took place between May 2018 and June 2019 and said: "They used threats and intimidation
to steal a very significant quantityofphonesandelectrical tablets.
"Theoffendinghadasignificantimpactonthebusinesses."
The court heard the first raids, in May 2018, were at O2 storesinDarlington,Blythand Southampton.
In June 2018 a Carphone WarehouseinDarlingtoncame under attack, a Vodaphone store in Lancaster in Lancashire followed by an O2 store in Leeds Trinity.
Thefollowingmonthstores in Durham, Leeds, Northumberland and Hartlepool were targeted.
Mr Walker said: "There were large groups entering the stores, there was aggression and then the phones were snatched."
In July 2018 O2 shops at South Shields, Seaham and Thornaby were raided.
A month later, a Carphone Warehouse in Hartlepool and other in Bury, Manchester, were raided, followed by O2 stores in Durham, Northampton and The Arnison Centre in County Durham.
On September 2018 the gang targeted O2 shops in Leeds, Berwick and Ellesmere Port in Cheshire.
Batley in West Yorkshire and an O2 shop in Galashiels in the borders were targeted in October 2018. Then in December 2018 a Curry's store in Darlington and an O2 shop in Warrington were raided.
InJanuary2019aCarPhone Warehouse, O2 shop and a TK Max in Warrington were all targeted followed by a Curry's shopinMiddlesbroughthefollowing month.
In February 2019 two O2 shops in Leeds came under attack,followedbyanO2storein Durham.
The last raid was in June 2019, at an O2 shop at Barrowin-Furness in Cumbria.
Mr Recorder Neil Haythorne will sentence the men on September 29.