A GANG of four men have been sentenced for stealing mobile phones in Somerset as part of an £87,000 string of thefts.

The men, from Slough, operated in a total of eight different counties.

They are Madalin Baboi, 18, from Brammas Close; Drona Bujor, 18, from The Crescent; Croidon Bujor, 19, from Pearl Gardens; and Lionard Vasille, 21, from Brammas Close.

They appeared at Winchester Crown Court last Thursday after pleading guilty to conspiracy to steal between January and October 2018.

The phones were stolen from various locations including Weston-super-Mare, Swindon, Hull and London.

Wiltshire Police began their investigation in April 2018, after three people were seen running from the EE shop in the in Salisbury after snatching mobile phones from the display.

They were seen getting into a black Audi which was spotted by officers and abandoned in Devizes Road.

Four males ran from the vehicle and following a foot chase, were arrested.

The stolen phones were located inside the vehicle as well as further stolen phones following thefts reported in Dorset and Sussex.

Further examination of their own mobile phones found evidence that they had been committing similar offences across the country, including in Somerset.

Operation Flex began and this culminated in a series of warrants being executed in Slough in July, where further stolen mobile phones were located.

In total, officers were able to link the four men to 44 offences at various phone shops across the country.

Croidon Bujor was sentenced to 18 months in a youth offenders institute (YOI).

Baboi received 12 months in a YOI.

Drona Bujor was given 10 months in a YOI.

Vasile was handed six months suspended for 18 months

DC Mark Welch, of Wiltshire Police, said: "This was an extremely lengthy and complex investigation - the fact that the group were responsible for so many offences across various counties in the country made it especially complicated and required an extensive amount of partnership working with other police forces.

"Through CCTV analysis and mapping of the personal phones of these four individuals, we were able to identify 44 offences which we could attribute to them.

"The group were brazen in that they committed these crimes during the middle of the day when the shops were full with customers - during one incident in Eastleigh, Hampshire, an elderly woman had to be hospitalised after she was knocked over by the gang as they made off with a display table of phones.

"During analysis of the men's phones, we found multiple photographs of the stolen phones and the cash they pocketed as a result of their actions.

"I hope this case shows the lengths we will go to, to investigate individuals.

"What may initially appear as a one off shoplifting incident has in fact led to an organised crime group being put before the courts and sentenced for their actions."