Gang 'boss' accused of doing ' reconnaissance mission' at Rushden Lakes Flannels on day of £74,000 designer clothes smash-and-grab

A man accused of helping run a gang of organised burglars browsed the aisles at Rushden Lakes on the day of a raid of thousands of pounds worth of designer gear.

The popular store was allegedly targeted in a smash-and-grab during which thieves broke in with a sledgehammer, pulled clothes off their rails and filled up builders’ bulk bags before dragging them out of the store and escaping.

On Friday, a court heard how Barry Mitchell, 43, – said to be one of the leaders of an OCG that carried out burglaries worth £4m – visited the Flannels store on September 22, 2021.

The Northampton Crown Court jury heard police interviews with Mitchell after his first arrest on September 25, 2021, during which he denied being involved in the burglary but said he had visited the shop alone, earlier in the day, in his 67-plate Nissan Navara.

He said: “It’s a bit of a posh snob shop. I did go there and had a look around at stuff for my missus.

"I wandered around and had a look at stuff for the kids and walked out and that was it.

"I spend a lot of money in Flannels from week to week. I’m fortunate I earn heaps of money and can afford to do that.

"I am a very good customer of theirs.”

Detectives told Mitchell he was seen entering Rushden Lakes with two other men at about 2.12pm. He told officers he could not remember who the men were and that he suffered from short term memory loss.

Mitchell was asked by officers whether he was on a reconnaissance mission and ‘checking out’ the store.

"No, I can categorically say I’m not a burglar,” said Mitchell.

Sledgehammer raid

On the same evening he returned to Rushden Lakes at about 9pm, buying a chocolate milkshake from Five Guys.

Shortly afterwards, two people pulled up in a cream Mini at the side of Flannels and used a sledgehammer to break in before ransacking stock and removing it in one-tonne poly bulk bags.

The court heard that the Mini then left and ANPR caught it being followed by a black Nissan Navara. Mitchell denied in interview that he was travelling in convoy towards Corby. He was asked why he was going in that direction.

"Just a girl I was seeing,” he said.

"I’ve a partner and children and I was going to sh** some other bird.

"My partner will probably read this evidence and I don’t want this sort of thing coming out. She will want to read it all because she’s 100 per cent on the ball.”

Officers asked Mitchell why a one-tonne poly bulk bag was found at his GrabHire4U premises after the burglary stuffed with dry tissue paper, despite the weather being damp for several nights.

He said it could have been thrown over the fence by someone else.

Navara broken into after it was seized

Standing trial for a conspiring to organise 22 burglaries and thefts are; Adel Chouhaib, 44, of Bede Close, Corby; Barry Mitchell, 43, of Carmarthen Way, Rushden; Robert Mitchell, 38, of London Road, Raunds; Suray Kemal Hamdi, 47, of Chain Close, Peterborough; and William Castle, 33, of Horselease Close, Great Oakley. Chouhaib is also accused of handling stolen goods. All men deny the charges.

The court had earlier heard how it was difficult for Flannels bosses to estimate their loss, but a stock check showed £74,000 of clothing was missing. A loss adjuster told the court that the real value was could be lower, about £64,000, to take into account the normal level of shoplifting between quarterly stock takes.

Last week the court was told that two days after the burglary, shop workers spotted a man on CCTV in the store who they believed to have been involved in the incident. He was arrested.

Two days after the Rushden Lakes burglary, workers from CMG recovery group were called to remove Mitchell’s Nissan Navara from the shopping centre. It was taken to their secure compound in Northampton but was not searched at that time.

That weekend, the vehicle was broken into while in the compound and when staff returned on the Monday morning, they found it open and with £3,200 in cash scattered around the front seats.

The same gang of men is also accused of being behind that incident. They were all eventually charged with the offences a year after the Rushden Lakes burglary.

‘Never in my life have I done a burglary’

Police interviews with father-of-six Suray Hamdi were also read to the court. The jury was told that when his home was raided by police, £20,000 in cash was found.

When asked to account for its origin, he said it had come from the sale of an investment property in Spalding.

He told officers he wanted to begin an importation firm, bringing in modular homes and frozen food from Turkey. He said he had also spent £9,000 importing hand sanitiser during the pandemic, but had then been unable to sell it because of incorrect labelling.

He said: “I’ve got a few companies in my name. A recruitment company, another company which I was buying and selling stuff from.

"Since 2017/18 I’ve supplied staff to factories. I had up to 2,000 people working.

"Never in my life have I done a burglary.”

He told officers he travelled extensively and in the previous six months had been to Italy, Bulgaria, Belgium and Turkey. He said he had met Barry Mitchell after buying a grab truck which he stored at Mitchell’s premises.

Hamdi who said he spoke six languages, also revealed he had taken a £50,000 bounceback loan which he had not yet repaid and that during 2010 he had employed 100 people in a chocolate factory in Corby.

The trial continues