Lego thieves who stole £4,000 of bricks banned from B&M Bargains stores

Gang travelled to Nottingham to commit ‘brazen’ high-value theft

Lego thieves who stole £4,000 of bricks banned from B&M Bargains stores (Nottinghamshire Police / SWNS)

A group of Lego thieves have been banned from every B&M store in England and Wales after they stole more than £4,000 worth of merchandise.

Conlon McDonagh, Tom McDonagh, and Patrick Ward, all aged 22, raided B&M stores in Nottinghamshire during a two-day spree last week.

CCTV showed them wearing baseball caps as they entered the stores before stuffing high-value kits into reusable shopping bags and walking out.

They included Lego-branded Minecraft sets, Disney Princess castles, Ninjago boxed sets as well as other toys, including Mario-kart and Sonic the Hedgehog playsets.

A manhunt was launched after stores in Worksop, Mansfield and Netherfield were targeted in two days - with over £4,000 worth of Lego sets stolen.

They were caught when a police officer spotted a vehicle full of toys on the A17 near Newark on 31 August.

All three men were arrested and later charged with three counts of theft.

Conlon McDonagh, of Southwall, Tom McDonagh, of Enfield, and Ward, of Southwall, admitted the charges at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on 2 September.

A group of Lego thieves have been banned from every B&M store in England and Wales after they stole more than £4,000-worth of merchandise (Getty Images)

They were each sentenced to 18 weeks, suspended for 12 months and banned from all B&M stores in England and Wales for a year.

The court heard the first theft took place at the B&M store in Bridge Place, Worksop, at around 5pm on 29 August.

One of the men distracted staff while the other two stole nearly £650 worth of Lego from the shelves.

At 8pm on the same evening, the trio targeted the B&M store in Baums Lane, Mansfield.

They filled up four large bags with Lego products worth approximately £1,000 before leaving without paying.

The next day, they stole almost £3,000 worth of Lego from the B&M store at Victoria Retail Park in Netherfield.

On this occasion, a shop assistant challenged them as they were leaving. One of the thieves swore at her before they all fled in a car.

Sergeant Antony Coleman, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Thanks to the instincts of the patrolling officers whose suspicions were aroused by the considerable amount of Lego in the vehicle, these brazen thieves were all swiftly caught.

“They travelled to Nottinghamshire to commit these high-value thefts, thinking they could get away with it. They were wrong.”