Romanian thieves net 888 kegs… in two months!
By: JimOldfield
November 15th, 2012
A PAIR of Romanian thieves have been convicted of stealing £76,000 worth of beer casks and kegs… that they amassed in just TWO MONTHS!
Married couple Toma Ciorba, 20, and his 19-year-old wife Diana Ciorba amassed a haul of 888 stolen kegs, which they hid at two addresses in Tottenham and Edmonton. London.
Haringey police officers – working in liaison with brewing industry watchdog Kegwatch – raided the addresses in January this year after a tip-off – and found the kegs, together with casks and gas canisters in shipping containers, as in the picture on the right.
Some were in the process of being loaded onto a lorry when the raid took place, the court heard. Each keg was said to be worth £65-165.
The Ciorbas – who had only landed in Britain two months earlier, in November 2011 – pleaded guilty at Wood Green Crown Court to handling stolen goods. Both have now been recommended for deportation
Toma Ciorba, who was living in Tottenham, was sentenced to 16 months in prison, while Diana got a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years. She was also given a 100 hours of community punishment.
The court heard the Ciorbas had acquired the kegs from “unnamed sources”. Some of them have been identified as having been stolen from public houses in North London, Essex and Hertfordshire.
Metropolitan Police Det Sgt Daryl Keogh said: “Keg theft is a serious problem nationally. This was reflected during sentence, when the judge described the operation as ‘sophisticated and serious criminality’.
“My hope that this custodial sentence will act as a warning to others who see keg theft as an easy target.”
British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) chief executive Brigid Simmonds added: “We are grateful to the Metropolitan Police Service and other police forces across the country, who continue to focus on keg and cask theft in the course of their metal theft investigations.
“Keg theft is a serious problem for our industry. We will continue to work in close partnership with the police, other law enforcement and commercial partners to put a stop to it.”
