JAILED: Romanian organised crime gang stole £3m jewellery from across the UK

In 14 months the 'extremely organised' gang who are believed to have been trained at an 'Romanian Crime Academy' hit 11 stores.

They employed advanced strategies including cycling to their targets, cordoning off roads with industrial cables to reduce traffic and witnesses, and even lighting fires at the scene to distract emergency services.

The group would also pitch themselves up in tents two to three miles away and would bury their waste to avoid leaving traces of DNA.

In Staffordshire they raided Beaverbrooks in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, on March 10 bagging a haul of watches worth £400,000.

Among the gang was Vasile Daniel Cardos, aged, 26, from Halesowen Street, Rowley Regis who was sentenced on Friday to eight years and two months in prison for conspiracy to commit burglaries.

Four others, of no fixed address, were handed the same punishment.

They are Bogdan Costel Neagu, aged 24, Ioan Bucuresteanu, aged 24, Silvu Ioan Acatrinei, aged 20, and Andrei Florin Tifui, aged 28.

Ioachim Karp, aged 19, also of no fixed address, was sentenced to six years and six months for aggravated burglary and conspiracy.

A further man is due to be sentenced on March 28.

According to Staffordshire Police, the Romanian Crime Academy recruits men and provides a strict code for its members, as well as training them in techniques such as avoiding being followed and understanding forensic evidence.

Detective Chief Inspector Ricky Fields, from Staffordshire Police's safeguarding and investigation unit, said the Romanian Crime Academy trains its recruits in avoiding surveillance and leaving DNA.

"We're dealing with a group of individuals who are extremely organised and forensically aware," DCI Fields said.

"They went to great lengths and employed an interesting MO in an attempt to avoid detection

"The group could be linked to the crime academy in Romania as several of the members came from the same region of the country and employed similar strategies.

"The Romanian Crime Academy recruits men and provides a strict code for its members as well as training in numerous techniques, such as avoiding being followed as well as understanding forensic evidence.

"They employed a number of strategies including cycling to the scenes of their crimes and cordoning off sections of road to reduce traffic and observers.

"They also pitched tents, typically two to three miles from the scene of the crime and buried their waste in a bid to avoid DNA being gathered."

The gang targeted Beaverbrooks, Fraser Hart and Goldsmiths chains as well as independent traders.

Between November 2015 and September 2016 they raided locations in Milton Keynes, Oxford, Lancashire, Basingstoke, Kent, Portsmouth, Bicester Village, Derby, Peterborugh and Stratford-upon-Avon as well as Hanley.

DCI Fields added: "This is a complex investigation which spans other police force areas including Thames Valley, Hampshire, Kent, Cambridgeshire, Lancashire, Derbyshire and Warwickshire and was supported by the National Crime Agency and West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit and Romanian authorities.

"This was a highly organised Romanian crime group who, thanks to great partnership working between all forces, we were able to bring to justice. Police officers across the country have worked tirelessly and diligently to achieve this result today in court.

"I hope the sentences handed out send out a strong message - Staffordshire Police, along with other forces, will not tolerate such crime in our communities and we will take positive action against those involved."