Two members of a gang who were behind more than 200 break-ins across the region, including 96 in Norfolk, had only just been released from prison after being jailed for a series of ram raids across the county, it can be revealed.
The gang, who raided homes and businesses between February and December last year, cost their victims £2m during as part of the spree where they stole everything from puppies to high-end cars, including an Audi S7 worth £70,000.
Nine members of the gang have pleaded guilty to commit burglary at previous hearings and will be sentenced at a later date along with three other men found guilty of handling stolen goods during a recent trial at Norwich Crown Court.
But we can today reveal that two members of the gang due to be sentenced had just been released from prison following jail terms for a series of ram raids across the region when they got involved in this criminal enterprise.
In October 2014, John Eli Loveridge, then of Beck Row, near Mildenhall, and John Stanley Loveridge, then of Willow Park, Beck Row, were jailed for six years and four years respectively after admitting conspiracy to commit commercial burglary.
Their jail terms followed the final act in a 'planned and professional' crime spree involving ram raids and burglaries across Norfolk and Suffolk that was 'thwarted' by police who were lying in wait for the gang.
The Loveridges broke into homes and commercial premises stealing high performance cars and 4x4 vehicles which were used in cash point raids across the county.
But they, together with fellow gang member Leonard Smith, were arrested after a ram raid at the UEA during which Loveridge Jnr and Smith, both dressed in white dust suits and balaclavas, went inside while Loveridge Snr waited outside in a stolen Mercedes 4x4.
Police released dramatic CCTV camera footage which captured the moment a tow rope attached to the 4x4 vehicle was wrapped around a cash machine, before the ATM, containing more than £10,000, was ripped from its base.
Police, who had been waiting for the gang to strike, then moved in and a police car rammed the 4x4, which Loveridge had tried to speed off in while the other two gang members were captured on foot with Smith having to be tasered before he could be detained.
Footage of the raid on December 2, 2013, during which a security guard was threatened with a crow bar, had been released by police after the gang were jailed for a total of 14 years after they admitted their part in three other ram-raids and a series of house burglaries between May and December 2013. They were also responsible for a raid at the Namco Funscape bowling alley in Bowthorpe on November 1 2013, where two vehicles were used to remove a cash machine containing £12,000.
Sentencing Loveridge Snr to a total of six years, Loveridge Jnr to four years and Smith to four years, Recorder Maureen Baker described the offences as a 'planned and professional enterprise.'
John Eli Loveridge, now 42 and of Greenways, Carleton Rode, Norfolk John Stanley Loveridge, now 23 and of Greenways, Carleton Rode, Norfolk, are now to be sentenced after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary in relation to the raids which happened between February and December last year.
Det Insp Mick Roxby said: 'This gang was responsible for an unprecedented number of burglaries across our county and had no regard for the people they targeted in such a ruthless way.
'Thankfully we managed to recover the stolen items in many of these cases. However, you cannot put a price on the emotional impact these crimes have had on the victims.'
Others gang members to be sentenced include:
• Charlie Albert Webb, 20, from Newton Flotman, Norfolk;
• Joseph Holmes, 21, of Schole Road, Willingham;
• Danny Stone-Parker, 28, of Braintree Road, Great Dunmow;
• Timothy Stone-Parker, 24, of Clay Way, Ely;
• Joe John Spencer Loveridge, 19, of Winchester Road, Sandy, Bedfordshire;
• Richard Oakley, 27, of Sandy Park, Beck Row, Suffolk;
• Johnny Oakley, 25, of Sandy Park, Beck Row, Suffolk.
They will all be sentenced at a later date, along with three other men found guilty of handling stolen goods following a trial at Norwich Crown Court.
Simon Oakley, who owns Stratton Quick Fit in Long Stratton, was found to have provided the gang with false registration plates and directed others to commit crime.
Oakley, 45, of Alburgh Road, Hempnall, Norwich, was found guilty of conspiracy to burgle on October 31 following a Norwich Crown Court trial.
He previously admitted possession of a firearm without a certificate and handling stolen goods.
Also standing trial with Oakley was James Pateman, 55, of no fixed abode, and his brother Thomas Pateman, 54, of Fen Road, Chesterton, Cambridge.
The court heard the men were involved in the disposal of jewellery. They were found guilty of handling stolen goods.
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