THREE men were jailed yesterday their part in a spate of 22 Gwent burglaries where £90,000 worth of cigarettes were stolen and £35,000 of damage caused.

Cardiff Crown Court heard the attacks on shops and service stations bore “striking similarities”, being carried out late at night by men in balaclavas who used a sledgehammer and disk cutters and made off in high performance cars.

Matthew Peter Waters, 26, of Nicholas Street, and Thomas Ronald Young, 32, of Prince Street, both Pontypool, were sentenced to five and four years in prison respectively after admitting conspiracy to commit burglary.

Mandeep Sandhar, 24, of The Alders, Llanyrafon, received ten months after pleading guilty to converting criminal property.

Prosecutor Christian Jowett said Waters and Young can each be directly linked to eight of the burglaries between December 2009 and June 2010. He said the offenders arrived in high-performance cars, parking where there was no CCTV before using a sledgehammer to smash glass and disk cutters to force locks. They were linked to incidents because of glass found on tracksuits, footprints from trainers, and disk cutters and a sledgehammer found in a Subaru Impreza belonging to Young.

Sandhar admitted buying cigarettes from Young but pleaded guilty on the basis he took less than £10,000 worth.

Waters’ sentence included a consecutive term of six months after admitting an assault occasioning actually bodily harm following an unprovoked attack on David Griffin at the Bell pub, Pontypool, in January 2010, which left the victim with fractured teeth.

Sandhar’s barrister Donal Lawler said he knew they were “knock-offs”, but turned a blind eye until reading a newspaper report on the burglaries, when he stopped. Ieuan Bennett, for Waters, said he ‘fell into financial difficulties”, while Rupert Lowe said Young pleaded on the basis he wasn’t a main instigator but got involved with a “pre-existing conspiracy”.

Waters was sentenced to consecutive terms of 54 months for the burlgaries and six months for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, Young got four years and Sandhar ten months, of which they must serve half.

Waters has already served 340 days, Young 200 days and Sandhar 174 days on licence.

Burglaries involving Waters and Young

Waters and Young together

February 23, 2010: Enterprise Autos, Crumlin. More than £6,000 of tobacco and cigarettes taken and £1,000 damage

March 30, 2010: Waitrose, Llanfoist. No stock taken, but £5,000 damage caused

March 30, 2010: Somerfield, Monmouth. £1,000 of cigarettes and £2,000 damage caused

March 30, 2010: Premier Stores, New Inn. More than £1,000 goods taken, £2,500 of damage

May 26, 2010: Total Services, Raglan. No stock, £300 damage

June 3, 2010: Tesco, Abertillery. £2,500 of stock taken

June 12, 2010: Spar, Trevethin. £5,500 of items taken

Waters alone:

December 11, 2009: Versatool, North Pontypool Industrial Estate. Disk cutters worth £1,980 taken with £1,000 damage caused

Young alone:

March 30, 2010: Hafodyrynys Service Station. More than £1,000 worth of tobacco and cigarettes