A man involved in a conspiracy to steal more than £1m worth of vans has had his sentence cut after he gave evidence against the gang responsible.

A network of thieves scoured the East of England to find and steal Mercedes Sprinter vans which all had their electronic ignition switches (EIS) removed.

Norwich Crown Court has previously heard how the switches were taken to Miroslav Pesko who had the knowledge to reprogramme them, enabling the gang to put the updated switches in the vans and steal them without being tracked.

Almantas Ziura, also known as Almantas Andriuskevicius, 25, was one of a number of men involved in a conspiracy to steal motor vehicles between January 26 and September 6 last year.

Ziura, appeared at court on Thursday (December 17) having previously admitted being involved in the conspiracy.

The court heard Ziura initially started out giving lifts to another man, Viktoras Sakalauskas, in return for £200.

But Oliver Haswell, prosecuting, said Ziura became fully aware of what was going on and took over the role played by Sakalauskas after he was arrested by police and fled to Lithuania.

Mr Haswell said Ziura, who was a “willing participant”, also recruited other friends to the operation prior to his arrest in September last year.

Ziura, formerly of London Road South, Lowestoft, was to give evidence against other gang members in the first trial in March, which had to be stopped due to coronavirus, and a subsequent trial which ended last month.

Pesko, of Middlesex, was found guilty of conspiracy to steal and jailed for a total of five years and four months.

Judge Stephen Holt said Ziura, who also admitted earlier offences of stealing from vehicles, dating back to 2017 and assault of an emergency worker, would have been looking at a 30 month sentence had he not have given evidence.

Judge Holt said: “Your role in bringing Miroslav Pesko to justice was a significant role”.

He recognised that Ziura’s future would be “under some risk” and acknowledged his wife had been threatened on Facebook and had since returned to Lithuania.

Meanwhile Ziura, who was represented by Glenn Harris, himself had to be moved four times in prison due to his “safety being feared for”.

Judge Holt said he was able to give him discount as a result of his cooperation and sentenced him to 12 months in prison.