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.

[RippleFire]

bump

[LizardQueen]

The police should be on the lookout for someone having a very large dinner party....

LQ

[Tomalak]

£70,000? Unless After Eight minds have been reduced lately that'll probably only be about six boxes.

[gorush]

Ther was also a giant ground beef heist on the same day. Now, a few days later, the market is flooded with mintsmeat pie.

[wildbill]

Look for women, known associates of police characters, who suddenly get fat.