Robbers who were chased by a police helicopter after jewellery raid are jailed

Four members of a gang with links to serious organised crime who led police on a high-speed car chase following a break-in have been jailed, the Crown Office has said.

Lawrence Connor, 26; James Loveridge, 37; James Loveridge junior, 18; and a 17-year-old male, targeted family homes and were caught in March last year after breaking into a house in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, the prosecution service said.

They stole £10,000 worth of gold jewellery along with £1,000 in cash and were sentenced at Hamilton Sheriff Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty in December to breaking into the house during the day.

Neighbours spotted a black BMW car driving past the house mid-morning and called police after they saw three men running from the property with a bag then fleeing in the car.

Prosecutors heard how officers spotted the vehicle in Hamilton being driven in a “dangerous and reckless” manner – at one point on the wrong side of the road.

A police helicopter tailed the car which stopped with five suspects fleeing in different directions. Four of them were apprehended but one suspect escaped.

The court was told that the accused were part of a nationwide network of gangs that targeted homes believed to contain high-value jewellery and business cash.

Connor, a prisoner, was handed a three-year jail sentence; Loveridge senior, also a prisoner, was jailed for two years and his son, of Rochdale, Lancashire, was sent to a Young Offenders Institution for 20 months.

The 17-year-old received a 300-hour, community payback order.

Connor was also convicted of being part of a five-man gang which carried out a separate robbery at a house in Houston, Renfrewshire, in February 2022, assaulting a couple while armed with a screwdriver.

Les Brown, Procurator Fiscal for South Strathclyde, welcomed the sentences and warned the fight to detect and disrupt criminal gangs is ongoing.

He said: “These convictions and the sentence should send a strong message to others involved in this kind of criminal behaviour and demonstrates the ability of police and prosecutors to investigate and prosecute serious and organised crime of this nature.

“The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service will continue working with the police and other agencies as a member of Scotland’s Serious and Organised Crime Taskforce to ensure that these crimes are detected and those responsible prosecuted using all measures at our disposal.”