Gang Jailed After Crime Spree Including Harborough Village

A gang responsible for more than 50 high-value burglaries across the UK — including in a Harborough village — has been jailed for a total of nearly 40 years.

The men stole jewellery, designer handbags and watches worth around £1 million, targeting over 50 homes in affluent areas using online tools to plan their crimes.

A home in Stoughton was one of two properties targeted in Leicestershire.

Lleshi posing with stolen watches. Pic: Cheshire Police

The court heard the gang, originally from Albania, used Google to identify wealthy postcodes before searching Rightmove to study property layouts.

They typically broke into homes via first-floor windows, often using ladders to avoid triggering ground-floor alarm systems.

Properties were ransacked as they searched for valuables, with items sometimes carried away in makeshift bags made from bed sheets. In one case, CCTV captured the group stealing an entire safe.

Police say they had ‘no regard’ for their victims and ‘regularly gloated about their crimes’ posing for photos with stolen items.

The investigation breakthrough came after DNA was recovered from a burglary in Staffordshire, while a distinctive shoeprint — linked to a common trainer — helped connect multiple crime scenes.

This was among images found on Lleshi’s phone. Pic: Cheshire Police

Kristian Gropcaj, 31, George Pepa, 31, and Krisjian Dedndreaj, 29, all from the West Midlands, along with Sidorjan Lleshi, 27, from Sheffield, admitted the offences at Chester Crown Court.

They were each jailed for between nine years and 10 years and nine months.

Members of the burglary gang

A fifth defendant, Endrit Nikolli, 27, is due to be sentenced at a later date. His partner, Jade Tubb, of Walsall, was given a 12-month suspended sentence after admitting handling criminal property, and ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.

Detective Sergeant Laura Fox said the burglaries “were carefully orchestrated, with the gang researching their targets before committing their crimes, even expanding their crime spree across multiple forces in an effort to go undetected”.

“Throughout our investigation, it has been clear that the gang had absolutely no regard for the impact that their offences would have on the victims,” she added.

“Instead, they regularly gloated about their crimes and shared images of ill-gotten gains.”