Romanian burglars who carried out a raid on Fleet Street jewellers found guilty of £300,000 heist

Two Romanian burglars who drilled through the walls of a Fleet Street jewellers under the cover of a nearby marathon have been convicted of a £300,000 heist.

Florin-Cristin Neagu, 46, and Sorin Munteanu, 44, were accused of carrying out a ‘daring’ raid at George Attenborough & Son Jewellers in Fleet Street, central London.

The pair and their associate, Nicolae Sisca, who had previously pleaded guilty to burglary, carried out the raid over the weekend of March 23 and 24 last year.

Southwark Crown Court heard the men attempted to tunnel into the basement of the jewellers but accidentally drilled into the neighbouring William Hill betting shop.

Jurors were shown CCTV of one of the men, said to be Sisca, crawling through the hole and looking around before returning.

Prosecutor Philip Stott said the mistake was made despite extensive reconnaissance and planning.

During the raid, Neagu stayed outside, keeping watch for more than eight hours over the two days as Munteanu went inside to assist Sisca.

Munteanu and Sisca covered the CCTV cameras with a white opaque substance and a total of around £16,000 damage was caused.

The court heard that the group stole £298,987.21 worth of jewellery and attempted to access the safe containing further items worth an estimated £400,000.

The second date of the burglary, March 24, coincided with thousands of runners competing in the London Landmarks half marathon nearby, providing cover.

After fleeing the UK within 48 hours of the burglary, Neagu and Munteanu were both arrested in Romania and extradited back to the UK last year.

Mr Stott said there was ‘overwhelming’ evidence of their guilt and jurors took less than an hour to convict the pair of burglary on Tuesday.

The gang repeatedly visited the area surrounding the shop, including William Hill, to scope access to the jewellers ahead of the raid.

CCTV and data from their phones show the men in the Fleet Street area and in contact with each other in the weeks leading up to the burglary.

Footage from the betting shop showed Munteanu and Sisca visited multiple times, including on March 11 and 21, days before the burglary.

One witness said a man who gave his name as Florin visited a solicitor in the same building as the jewellers on March 11 or 12.

Barristers for the two men, who declined to give evidence, argued that the pair were in the area but were not involved in the burglary.

However, Mr Stott said: ‘They were present and involved in a high-value burglary, but didn’t know what was going on? How can that be? You all live in the real world.’

Both men will return to Southwark Crown Court for sentencing later today.