27 year old Nicolae Budencea from Enfield pleaded guilty to 19 counts of conspiracy to commit theft (shoplifting) at an earlier hearing. He had been on remand since he was charged.

Budencea was identified as being a part of an organised crime group that travelled up and down the country committing offences.

They would enter stores either once or multiple times, stealing between £500 and £7000 worth of alcohol at a time.

Budencea was captured on CCTV acting as a look-out in these thefts and phone downloads showed that there were conversations between the members of the OCG pointing out where security team and staff members were.

Officers worked with the heads of security for Tesco and Sainsbury’s, who identified that he had also been involved with a further 34 offences across the UK which were taken into consideration when he was sentenced.

While Budencea actively took part in thefts totalling nearly £100,000, it is believed that the OCG was responsible for the theft of around £495,000 worth of alcohol.

The offences which took place at Tesco supermarkets between October 2022 and November 2024 included:

27/10/2022 – Stanwell – £5000
03/11/2022 – Reigate – £5000
22/01/2023 – Addlestone – £500
17/03/2023 – Ashford – £8500
30/03/2023 – Towbridge – £1000
03/05/2023 – Coventry – £800
07/06/2023 – Ashford – £1000
18/05/2023 – Bedworth – unknown
16/08/2023 – Leicester – unknown
25/08/2023 – Borehamwood – unknown
18/08/2023 – Crewe – £2616
25/10/2023 – Bradford – £540
06/04/2024 – Bicester – £850
06/04/2024 – Didcot – £2700
24/04/2024 – Watford – £5366
01/09/2024 – Ashford – £750
03/10/2024 – Ashford – £1750
25/10/2024 – Lakeside – £2525
31/10/2024 – Ashford – £786

PC Lacey, the officer who investigated the offences, said: “The successful outcome in court is the result of a joint partnership that was formed between the neighbourhood policing investigation team from Staines, Tesco and Sainsbury’s, alongside Op Opal, the national intelligence unit focused on serious organised acquisitive crime (SOAC).

“The investigation involved viewing hours of CCTV and numerous statements being taken which provided overwhelming evidence to prove the part that Budencea played in this prolific shoplifting OCG.

“The sentence he received highlights our determination to crack down on shoplifting and that this type of crime will not be tolerated.”