AN organised crime gang who stole high value cars in raids on Wye Valley homes have been jailed for a total of 26 years.  

The thieves broke into family homes in Chepstow and Monmouth and made off with vehicles parked on the driveways after stealing the keys, Cardiff Crown Court heard.

A Chepstow woman and her two young children, aged just six and three, were asleep inside when the gang struck, while the Monmouth family were away on holiday.

Other items the thieves netted in three raids in June and July last year, including one in the Vale of Glamorgan, included sentimental possessions such as a Fabergé egg and an MBE given to the late brother-in-law of a 78-year-old woman householder which was never recovered. 

One of the gang is on the run after absconding from court and will serve seven years when he is caught.

The court heard that the Monmouth family returned home from their holiday on July 19 to discover their Audi TT worth £10,000 missing from their drive and the Fabergé egg, a silver necklace and £300 and $300 in cash and coins stolen from their home.

The Chepstow raid at a house in Wallwern Wood happened on the night of July 18 while the mum and her two children slept.

When she awoke next morning at 6.15am, she found her Mercedes convertible worth £20,000 missing from her drive. Keys had been left strewn on the floor of the house, but the keys for the Mercedes were missing.

The five-strong gang from Newport, Pontypool and Birmingham had also struck the day before at the home of a woman pensioner in Peterstone-super-Ely, near Cardiff, while she was away over the weekend, taking her Volkswagen Jetta car, an MBE and an oval dish which had belonged to her late brother-in-law, plus a Clogau gold necklace and a spare car key.

But the gang’s activities were halted when police spotted the Monmouth family’s car on July 25 parked outside a house in Newport, and the Volkswagen the same day being driven on the M5 near the West Midlands.

The defendants were arrested and charged and all three cars recovered, while evidence presented to the trial included the analysis of mobile phones and CCTV footage.

Newport trio Miles Bishop, 33, Robert Coulson, 43, and Steven Gorry, 30, all denied conspiracy to commit burglary and steal cars, but were convicted. Gareth Elliott, 37, of Pontypool also denied handling stolen goods, but was convicted. 

Bishop is on the run after doing a bunk from the dock, but was jailed for seven years in his absence and banned from driving for five-and-a-half years.

Coulson was jailed for nine years and banned from driving for six-and-a-half years, while Gorry received the same sentence as Bishop.

Elliott was jailed for two years with an extra 16 weeks for breaching a suspended sentence, and was banned from driving for two years and eight weeks.

Geni Dragjoshi, 30, of Willenhall, near Birmingham, was jailed for one year and banned from driving for 18 months after being convicted of handling stolen goods.

Sentencing the gang, Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke said of the raid on the Chepstow mother’s home: “Her children were six and three at the time and were in the house. She would have feared for the personal safety of herself and her children had she known people were in the house.”

Detective Constable Carrie Streeter, who led the case, said after sentencing: “These five men broke into homes, stole people’s vehicles from their driveways along with sentimental valuables. 

“The loss of these items has caused upset and financial loss to the victims and the defendants showed no regard for their feelings while taking part in these offences. The sentences handed down shows our rigorous efforts to secure justice and our continuous work to dismantle organised crime groups. 

“The investigation has been painstaking, but I hope the victims and our communities take comfort in this outcome.”