Vicious gang behind theft of Portland Tiara near Warsop jailed for more than 100 years

Police closed in on the gang after the Portland Tiara – described as ‘heritage jewellery of national importance’ and worth about £3.5 million – was stolen during a raid on the Harley Gallery, Welbeck Estate, between Warsop and Worksop.

The tiara and a matching brooch were stolen during the smash-and-grab raid on the evening of November 20, 2018.

Gang members Ashley Cumberpatch, Kurtis Dilks and Andrew MacDonald were convicted last week for their part in the raid, partly thanks to a reconnaissance video of the crime scene filmed by Cumberpatch the previous year.

Subsequent investigations linked them to a series of violent home-invasions targeting wealthy victims in Nottinghamshire and Surrey.

In January 2020, former international footballer Ashley Cole and his family were tied up by masked intruders who forced their way into their home.

On another, in March 2019, a burglary victim had his earlobe cut with pliers to coerce him into handing over valuables.

Detectives linked the gang to a pair of crooked jewellers working out of London’s Hatton Gardens and soon established a pattern of behaviour, with visits by gang members immediately after high-value burglaries in Nottinghamshire and Surrey.

When they raided the shop, Paris Jewells, to look for evidence, officers found a plastic bag containing a stash of jewellery and an FA Cup runners-up medal stolen the day before from the home of former Tottenham Hotspur footballer Tom Huddlestone.

Jewellers Tevfik Guccuk and Sercan Evsin, were later convicted of converting criminal property.

Dilks, of Whitegate Vale, Clifton, Nottingham, whose DNA was found on a knife and a cable tie used to restrain one of the burglary victims, was found guilty of three counts of conspiracy to commit burglary, four counts of converting criminal property, three counts of conspiracy to commit robbery, and two counts of robbery.

The 35-year-old was jailed for 30 years.

Cumberpatch, 37, previously of First Avenue, Carlton, Nottingham, was convicted of three counts of conspiracy to commit burglary, five counts of converting criminal property, and three counts of conspiracy to commit robbery and jailed for 29 years.

MacDonald, 42, of no fixed address, was found guilty of three counts of conspiracy to commit burglary, five counts of converting criminal property, and three counts of conspiracy to commit robbery. He was jailed for 32 years.

Tevfik Guccuk, 41, of Houndsden Road, Southgate, London, was found guilty of five counts of converting criminal property and jailed for seven years.

Sercan Evsin, 27, of Meadow Close, Barnet, London, was convicted of four counts of converting criminal property and jailed for five years.

Christopher Yorke, 50, of Rose Ash Lane, Top Valley, Nottingham, was convicted of one count of converting criminal property. He was handed a 12-month jail term, suspended for two years.

Detective Inspector Gayle Hart said: “The men who carried out these crimes were ruthless and violent in the extreme.

“They terrorised innocent victims in their own homes with wholly disproportionate levels of violence.

“I am acutely aware that no amount of jail time can undo the very considerable harm done to the victims in this case, but I do hope that these sentences provide them with at least some degree of closure.”