England: Gang kidnaps guard & steals estimated £70,000 worth of After Eight mints

BBC News On-Line ^ | Sunday, 20 April, 2003 | staff writer

[yankeedame]

Sunday, 20 April, 2003

Police hunt chocolate raiders

The man was dumped near junction 22 of the M62

Police are hunting a gang who kidnapped a security guard and stole a consignment of After Eight mints valued at an estimated £70,000.

The chocolates were stolen in a Kit Kat lorry trailer from the Nestle factory in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, in the early hours of Saturday morning.

A 26-year-old guard was abducted from the site on Park Farm Road by a gang of six men but released two hours later at a reservoir near Saddleworth Moor about 60 miles away in Greater Manchester.

A Humberside Police spokeswoman said the stolen lorry cab used in the raid was found in Liverpool at 1000 BST on Sunday - but the Kit Kat trailer and its chocolate cargo was still missing.

Four lorries stolen

The raid on the Nestle plant followed an earlier theft of four lorry cabs from the Associated British Ports (ABP) site at Immingham.

Police believe all four cabs were driven to Scunthorpe but the thieves were unsuccessful in attempts to steal three other trailers.

The three other cabs stolen from the ABP site were later discovered abandoned in Scunthorpe on Saturday.

The Nestle security guard was bundled into the back of a silver Ford Mondeo at about 0400 BST.

Guard dumped

He had a coat placed over his head and was "verbally threatened" by members of the gang.

The gang then drove more than 60 miles and released him, uninjured, next to a reservoir at junction 22 of the M62.

The alarm was raised when the man made his way to a nearby farm and contacted police.

Detectives are appealing for anyone with information about the thefts and who may have seen the silver Ford Mondeo.

[Clive]

How does one go about fencing 70,000 quid worth of After8 Mints?

[dighton]

"Idiots, you were told to rob the Royal Mint!"

[Blue Screen of Death]

Stake out the Dentist offices nearby and watch for a run on zit cream.

[mylife]

Ive seen Chocoholics, But THIS is ridiculous!!!

[tet68]

Lavender Hill Mob strikes again!

[Consort]

Wonka wankers. Look for people with a lot of cavities.

[csvset]

Ummmmmmm... Chocolate

[dighton]

Lavender Hill Mob strikes again!

Definitely one for the old Ealing Studios.

[blandbutmarvellous]

Cheezzz...more looting. We have men on the ground in England...why didn't our military stop this!

[Free_at_last_-2001]

"Idiots, you were told to rob the Royal Mint!" - LOL too funny!

[willyboyishere]

Could be the grandchildren of the "Lavender Hill Mob", considering that it was a theft of MINTS.

[willyboyishere]

Looks like a lot of us had the same idea. That is a movie I want to see again.

[tet68]

Some great films came from there.
I always like the one with Glennis Johns and I think
Holloway called Passport to Pimlico.
What a hoot!

[river rat]

Sour Pusses with a sweet tooth?

Semper Fi

[tet68]

Not Glennis but Stanley Holloway

[RichInOC]

"Oompa, Loompa, doom-pa-dee-do
"I have a perfect puzzle for you
"Oompa, Loompa, doom-pa-dee-dee
"If you are wise, you'll listen to me

"What do you get when you rustle up sweets?
"Stealing as much as an elephant eats
"What are you at with that black-market crap?
"What do you think will come of that?

"(I don't like the look of it...)

"Oompa, Loompa, doom-pa-dee-da
"If you're not greedy, you will go far
"You will live in happiness too
"Like the Oompa Loompa doom-pa-dee-do!"

[dighton]

I also saw Passport to Pimlico, ages ago. One I've never tracked down is Whisky Galore (a/k/a Tight Little Island). Two Ealing favorites: Kind Hearts and Coronets, and The Ladykillers.

[Servant of the Nine]

"What would ya do for a Kit-Kat Bar?"

Aparently quite a lot.

So9

[tet68]

Gads, I haven't seen Whisky Galore in ages!
When I was a teenager it must have been the golden age
of old movies, TV then had them on so much more.
Even having cable there isn't the selection there was then.