Eight charged for Nokia phone heist

Eight men have appeared in court charged with stealing £3m worth of Nokia 8850 and 8210 mobile phones from a Heathrow airport warehouse on 24 June.

Six of the suspects before Reigate Magistrate's Court on Saturday - all facing charges of conspiracy to supply stolen goods - were remanded in custody while one was released on bail.

The final alleged gang member will face magistrates this morning.

All the suspects have been scheduled to enter pleas on 16 July at Staines Magistrate's Court.

Police believe they have cracked an organised crime ring that has staged a number of heists in the South East and Thames Valley areas, although previous thefts have involved no more than £500,000 worth of phones.

In June, two men were sentenced to five- and four-year jail terms for hijacking a lorry with £500,000 worth of mobiles on board.

Following information received after the posting of a £100,000 reward, put up by insurance companies, a series of arrests were made last Thursday and Friday involving 70 officers in 15 towns in the Midlands, Central London, Thames Valley and the South East.

The investigation is still ongoing and further charges may be brought.

Detective Chief Inspector Bernie Watson said: "The people in custody are believed to be an organised crime network in the handling and disposal of mobile phones."

Police say they have so far recovered two vehicles compromising roughly a lorry load of the 19 pallets, or between 9-10,000 phones, stolen in the raid. The haul also included some computer equipment they also believe to have been stolen.

Police believe the gang used two seven-ton, white-box lorries, a smaller sky-blue lorry slightly larger than a Transit van, and a red saloon car with a black sunroof to carry out the theft.

Separately, CID officers in West Lothian, Scotland, investigating the theft of 10,000 Motorola T180 phones on 29 June from the manufacturer's now-closed Bathgate plant, confirmed yesterday that there had been no further arrests.

Two men were arrested within 24 hours of the theft, but police believe others were also involved.

Officers also confirmed that none of the phones had so far been recovered.

Anyone with information about the theft should contact Bathgate CID on 01506 653929.

Motorola has so far not offered a reward for information regarding the Bathgate theft, and declined to reply when asked whether it would consider doing so.