London gang stole £4,000 of Lego from North Nottinghamshire B&M stores

Three thieves who stole more than £4,000 of Lego in a string of incidents have been banned from entering B&M stores.

Nottinghamshire Police launched a manhunt after stores in Worksop, Mansfield and Netherfield were targeted in the space of two days.

In each incident CCTV cameras caught the three men wearing baseball caps entering the stores and taking reusable shopping bags, before filling them up with Lego products and walking out without paying.

The sets included Lego-branded Minecraft sets, Disney Princess castles, Ninjago boxed sets as well as other toys, including Mario-kart and Sonic the Hedgehog playsets.

They were caught when a police officer spotted a vehicle full of toys in the Newark area on Wednesday, 31 August.

Checks found the vehicle was wanted over the thefts and a team of officers stopped it as it travelled along the A17.

All three men, who are from the London area, were arrested and later charged with three counts of theft.

Conlon McDonagh, of Gregory Road, Southall, Ealing, Tom McDonagh, of Greenwood Avenue, Enfield, and Patrick Ward, f Gregory Road, Southall, pleaded guilty to all charges.

All three men, who are all 22, were each given 18-week prison sentences, suspended for 12 months.

They were also banned from entering any B&M store in England and Wales for a year.

Sgt Antony Coleman, who oversaw the investigation, said: "Thanks to the instincts of the patrolling officers whose suspicions were aroused by the considerable amount of Lego in the vehicle, these brazen thieves were all swiftly caught.

"They travelled to Nottinghamshire to commit these high-value thefts, thinking they could get away with it. They were wrong."

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