Lincolnshire Police

Gigi Prundaru, aged 34, Laurentiu Rebeca, aged 27, and Madalin Prundaru, aged 26, were arrested in Lincolnshire in the early hours of 26 August, 2016, after they left the scene of a theft in progress at St Botolphs Church in Walcot near Sleaford, Lincolnshire.

The group were seen leaving the area by the then church warden who bravely followed the vehicle in his car up to the A1 at Grantham, providing Lincolnshire Police’s Force Control Room with updates along the way, helping officers track them.

Officers located the suspects’ car, and the defendants were found packed into the front seat of the car with the rear full of lead sheets. They were arrested and the lead was tested.

There had been a number of thefts of lead from churches in the previous few days in the Sleaford area.  A sample of lead was matched via SMARTWATER samples to another theft at nearby Newton church which had occurred that night.

A thorough and complex investigation then followed, which resulted in the group being charged with  a total of 47 offences in 10 counties.

The value of the aggregate damage caused to the churches was £1.25m.

The group was linked to offences identified in Northamptonshire (11 offences); Thames Valley (8 offences); Norfolk (6 offences) Lincolnshire (5 offences); Leicestershire (5 offences); Cambridgeshire (5 offences); Suffolk (3 offences); Bedfordshire (2 offences) Wiltshire (1 offence) and Hampshire (1 offence).

The offences took place between 22 April, 2016, and 11 November, 2016. Gigi Prundaru and Rebeca continued to commit numerous offences following their arrest in Lincolnshire. They were charged with two offences in Norfolk but fled overseas.

Investigating officer DC Andrew Woodcock, of Lincolnshire Police, said: “The courage of the church warden and his wife in this case gave us a huge head start because his on-the-ground information and intelligence meant we knew exactly where the suspects were. Without that, it would have taken us longer to track and find them.

“I extend my thanks to them for their clear mindedness and bravery – not everyone would have been able to do what they did. At times we rely on the public to help be our eyes and ears in our communities because we can’t be everywhere all of the time, and this is a shining example of how the public can help us to do our jobs more effectively.”

Subsequent enquiries revealed the defendants, who were living in the Edmonton area of London, would commit offences in the early hours and then travel back to London and weigh in the lead sheets at a London scrap yard. They received around £70,000 during the seven-month period.

The group were also linked to another investigation, led by Cambridgeshire, in which a defendant, Petre Cazan, received seven and half years’ imprisonment in March 2019. Cazan and Gigi Prundaru were known from mobile phone evidence to have committed several offences together.

An international enquiry was conducted in relation to Gigi Prundaru and Rebeca’s whereabouts and following issuing of the European Arrest Warrants, through detective work, Rebeca was located in Austria and Gigi Prundaru in Romania. They were both arrested in November 2019 on European Arrest Warrants and extradited back to the UK.

The defendants initially contested the offences but due to overwhelming evidence from a combination of mobile phone cell site evidence and mobile phone downloads, ANPR evidence, and forensic evidence and records of payments to the scrap yard, the defendants changed their pleas to guilty.

Madalin Gabriel Prundaru, from Redbridge Lane East, Ilford, was found guilty of 18 lead theft charges at Lincoln Crown Court after a jury returned a guilty verdict last month.

He appeared at Lincoln Crown Court on Friday, where the judge gave him a 24 month community order.

He was part of a group of three in which two others have been previously jailed. This operation was called Operation Dastardly and was led by Lincolnshire Police.

• Gigi Prundaru previously admitted 31 offences and was sentenced to a total of 6 years 1 month imprisonment
• Laurentiu Rebeca admitted 24 offences and was sentenced to 4 years 10 months imprisonment

The judge also awarded £350 of public money to be issued to the church warden for his bravery.

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A 26-year-old man has been given a two month community order for his involvement in lead theft from churches across the region and other areas.

Madalin Gabriel Prundaru, from Redbridge Lane East, Ilford, was found guilty of 18 lead theft charges at Lincoln Crown Court after a jury returned a guilty verdict last month.

He appeared at Lincoln Crown Court today, Friday, where the judge gave him the community order.

He was part of a group of three in which two others have been previously jailed. This operation was called Operation Dastardly and was led by Lincolnshire Police.

• Gigi Prundaru previously admitted 31 offences and was sentenced to a total of 6 years 1 month imprisonment
• Laurentiu Rebeca admitted 24 offences and was sentenced to 4 years 10 months imprisonment

All the offences took place during a spate of attacks by groups of men on churches between May and August, 2016.

A thorough and complex investigation then followed, led by Lincolnshire Police, which resulted in the group being charged with a total of 47 offences that took place across the country.

The value of the aggregate damage caused was £1.25 million.

In total the group were charged with 100 thefts/attempted thefts from 40 different churches, and, of these, 73 offences resulted in conviction. The other offences were allowed by the court to be laid on file.

The conclusion of the case was delayed initially due to the European Arrest Warrant process and then latterly delays awaiting trial due to the COVID-19 pandemic, associated backlog of cases arising from the pandemic, and barrister strikes.

Reporting restrictions were put in place which meant we were unable to release any details until the last defendant, Prandaru, appeared at court for trial.

He was part of a group who have been dealt with previously, and this is the first time we have been able to publish this information due to the reporting restrictions.

St Andrew’s Church, Witham on the Hill, Stamford, had lead stolen which caused £150,000 worth of damage. | Photo: Lincolnshire Police

Investigating officer Dc Andrew Woodcock of Lincolnshire Police said: “This was a painstaking enquiry into large scale organised criminality. Offences were identified through detailed investigation, piecing together mobile phone communications data, and ANPR evidence of vehicles linked to the defendants.

“It was identified that the defendants would travel back to London and weigh the lead in for a fraction of its true value.

“Nevertheless, they benefitted to around £70,000 from the offences but caused significant distress to the local communities of the churches they targeted. Some of these churches, four years later, are still completing repairs.

“Although the investigation was led by Lincolnshire work was undertaken by a number of police forces and specialist forensic personnel. I thank those who assisted in the investigation which involved thousands of documents and a significant amount of technical data.”

Historic England Chief Executive Duncan Wilson said: “The outcome of this case highlights the benefits of collaborative working between the Police, Crown Prosecution Service, church communities and Historic England, and is an approach we shall continue to use when dealing with metal theft.

“The theft of metal from historic church buildings is a serious and organised crime.

“Removing large areas of lead or copper from roofs has not just a significant financial effect on church communities but a huge effect on their morale.”

St Deny’s Church in Sleaford had its lead stripped. | Photo: Lincolnshire Police

Mark Harrison, Head of Heritage Crime Strategy for Historic England, said: “The theft of metal from historic church buildings is a serious and organised crime. Removing large areas of lead or copper from roofs has a significant emotional and financial impact on those communities who care for and maintain our historic church buildings.

“This form of criminal behaviour can result in irreversible loss and damage, which is why tackling this problem is so important.

“The outcome of this case highlights the benefits of collaborative working between the Police, Crown Prosecution Service, Historic England and members of church communities from across the country. We will continue to work in partnership when dealing with metal theft.”

St Mary’s Church, Souldren. | Photo: Lincolnshire Police

Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones said: “This is nationally significant tremendous work by Lincolnshire Police and the crown prosecution service and sends a very clear message to thieves who target our much-loved heritage sites.

“Never have our churches and our heritage been under such attack since the Vikings and those who mistakenly believed they would be easy pickings have been held to account.

“To those who might look to carry out similar crimes in the future the message is clear – the police will pursue you until you are caught, and justice is done.”

Churches targeted in Lincolnshire included St Nicholas Church in Walcot, which fell victim to thieves twice in late August 2016, St Botolph’s in Newton and The Church of St Denys in Kirkby la Thorpe, along with St Andrew’s Church at Witham on the Hill.

Eleven other churches across the Midlands fell victim to lead thefts.

They included:

• two churches in Oxfordshire, and St Nicholas Church in Fyfield, Wiltshire.
• two churches in Northamptonshire were also targeted, St Margaret’s Church at Luddington, which was struck twice, and St Andrew’s Church at Cotterstock.
• two churches in Rutland, including St Mary’s at Manton and St Edmund’s at Egleton.
• four churches in Leicestershire. They included St Mary’s at Wyfordby, St Mary’s at Garthorpe, All Saints Church in Beeby and St Peter and Paul’s Church at Sywell which was struck twice.

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