West Yorkshire criminals sentenced for stealing 300,000 rounds of ammunition in West Midlands
Stolen bullets were recovered in a major operation involving multiple police forces
Eight men from West Yorkshire have been sentenced for their involvement in the theft of over 300,000 rounds of ammunition from a lorry in the West Midlands.
The group were sentenced at Leeds Crown Court, after a joint police operation that recovered most of the stolen bullets during a raid in Farsley, Leeds.
The theft occurred on February 17 2021, when the criminals broke into a parked lorry in Sutton Coldfield and moved 66 boxes of .22 calibre ammunition into a vehicle with false plates.
Those sentenced on November 26 included:
John Bull, 40, of Batley, received 4 years in prison for conspiracy to steal and possession of ammunition without a certificate.
Anver Valli, 51, of Dewsbury, was sentenced to 4 years and 9 months for the same charges.
James Coffey, 47, of Morley, pleaded guilty to the same offences and received 3 years and 3 months in prison.
Damien Cooper, 34, of no fixed address, received 2 years and 3 months for conspiracy to steal from a motor vehicle.
Harrison Pratt, 28, of Batley, was jailed for 3 years and 6 months for the same offences.
Anas Rasool, 29, of Dewsbury, received a suspended 16-month sentence for possession of ammunition without a certificate.
Paul Singh, 45, and Jamie Patel, 39, both of Leeds, received suspended sentences of 12 months and 15 months, respectively, for possession of ammunition without a certificate.
Police executed multiple warrants in Leeds and Kirklees in February 2021, recovering 64 of the 66 boxes of ammunition from a locked van and a farm in Aberford, where the suspect lorry was found.
DI Al Teague from West Midlands Police added: “The threat that this ammunition could have posed to public safety was hard to imagine and all law enforcement agencies involved were determined to safely recover the boxes, and bring those involved to justice.”