A GANG which stole more than £14,000 of cigarettes was caught after one of the burglars left his wallet in a Worcester shop during a bungled raid.

Costel Coclea, Adrian Dragoiu and Marius Stoican all admitted playing a role in the targeted raids which happened across the country but included shop burglaries in Worcester and Pershore.

Dragoiu admitted eight counts of burglary while Coclea and Stoican admitted two each when they appeared at Worcester Crown Court on Friday.

One of the raids involving Dragoiu and others happened at the Costcutter in Ankerage Green, Warndon Villages, Worcester on April 27 last year.

Omar Majid, prosecuting, said: “Two men went into the shop and distracted the staff by asking a number of questions. At the time there was a large delivery of cigarettes being put away. As one of the males asked for some milk another picked up a box containing £2,800 of cigarettes.

“Mr Dragoiu left his wallet and identification in the store which assisted in his identification.”

Speaking after the hearing, shop manager Jamie Johns said she spotted the wallet on the floor two hours after the raid, initially thinking it belonged to a customer. It was only later she realised it belonged to one of the burglars, after finding it contained Dragoiu’s ID card, birth certificate and flight details.

Another raid followed at a Co-op in Worcester on May 17 last year, this time involving four men, of one of which was Dragoiu. Two of the men distracted staff by asking for razor blades while another leaned over the counter and grabbed a large bag of cigarettes valued at around £1,000. But they were stopped from taking them.

Another raid involving Dragoiu followed at a Co-op in New Road, Rubery, also on May 17 last year. Around £2,500 cigarettes were stolen. Staff only realised the following day after watching CCTV.

Among the other burglaries, there was one involving Dragoiu, Coclea and Stoican in Pershore on August 21 last year. Dragoiu climbed over the counter and dislodged the till drawer in the process. The value of the cigarettes stolen was up to £400.

Mark Sheward, for Dragoiu, said the job he had been offered in a car wash was ‘close to slavery’, paying derisory sums of money.

Dragoiu, 23, of Pretoria Road, Bordesley Green, Birmingham was jailed for three years and Coclea, aged 25, and Stoican, aged 24, both of Pretoria Road, Bordesley Green, were jailed for 18 months.

Jamie Johns, the manager of the Warndon Villages Costcutter, said: “What a silly thief. What kind of thief drops their wallet?”

Since the raid the shop has installed more and better cameras.