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Gang who stole 330,000 bullets from lorry jailed

Oliver WrightYorkshire
News imageWest Yorkshire Police Three mugshots side by side. On the left, a man with dark hair and stubble in a blue top. In the centre, a man with grey hair, dark eyes and grey stubble. He is wearing a grey t-shirt. On the right, a man with dark hair and dark eyes, wearing a grey top.West Yorkshire Police
John Bull (left), Anver Valli (centre) and Harrison Pratt were among five men jailed for their roles in the heist

Eight men involved in the theft of 330,000 rounds of ammunition have been sentenced.

The gang stole stole 66 boxes of .22 calibre bullets from an HGV in Sutton Coldfield before taking it to a lock-up in Dewsbury using another lorry on false plates.

Following the heist on 17 February 2021 police traced the second lorry to West Yorkshire where they later arrested eight men and recovered 64 of the missing boxes hidden in a Fiat Scudo van.

Det Ch Insp David Shaw of West Yorkshire Police said: "It is hard to imagine an offence which can pose as great a potential risk to public safety as the theft of live ammunition, especially in the quantities taken in this case."

He added: "Even though the bullets were of a lower sporting calibre, they could very much have posed a real threat to life.

"It was this threat which prompted the launch of such a large operation between police forces and our partners to locate and recover the ammunition as quickly as possible.

"Thanks to those enquiries the vast majority of the stolen bullets were soon safely off the streets with smaller further amounts of the outstanding shells since subsequently recovered in West Yorkshire."

News imageWest Yorkshire Police Two custody pictures side by side. On the left, a man with dark hair and grey beard with blue eyes is wearing a black shirt. On the right, a man with dark hair and dark eyes wearing a dark blue hoody.West Yorkshire Police
James Coffey (left) and Damien Cooper were also given custodial sentences at Leeds Crown Court on Wednesday

Members of the gang were jailed at Leeds Crown Court on Wednesday.

  • John Bull, 40, from Batley, was sentenced to four years in prison after being found guilty of conspiracy to steal from a motor vehicle and possession of ammunition for a firearm without a certificate
  • Anver Valli, 51, from Dewsbury, was jailed for four years and nine months after being found guilty of conspiracy to steal from a motor vehicle and possession of ammunition for a firearm without a certificate. He was also sentenced to a further nine months for breaching a previous suspended sentence
  • James Coffey, 47, from Morley, was sentenced to three years and three months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to steal from a motor vehicle and possession of ammunition for a firearm without a certificate
  • Damien Cooper, 34, of no fixed address, was jailed for two years and three months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to steal from a motor vehicle
  • Harrison Pratt, 28, from Batley, was sentenced to three years and six months after being found guilty of conspiracy to steal from a motor vehicle and possession of ammunition for a firearm without a certificate
  • Anas Rasool, 29, from Dewsbury, was given a 16 month sentence suspended for two years after pleading guilty to possession of ammunition for a firearm without a certificate
  • Paul Singh, 45, from Leeds, was given a 12 month sentence suspended for 18 months after pleading guilty to possession of ammunition for a firearm without a certificate
  • Jamie Patel, 39, from Leeds, was given a 15 month sentence suspended for two years after pleading guilty to possession of ammunition for a firearm without a certificate

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