Intercepted prison phonecalls between £4m burglary ‘gang members’ played to court

Revealing phone calls from prison between members of a gang on trial for burglaries worth £4m have been played to a jury.

Alleged members of the organised crime group did not know their conversations from HMP Peterborough were being intercepted during the weeks after they were charged with a string of serious offences.

But police were listening to their calls and the jury at Northampton Crown Court heard the recordings yesterday (Thursday, September 14).

On trial at Northampton Crown Court are; Adel Chouhaib, 44, of Bede Close, Corby; Barry Mitchell, 43, of Carmarthen Way, Rushden; Robert Mitchell, 38, of London Road, Raunds; Suray Hamdi, 47, of Chain Close, Peterborough; and William Castle, 33, of Horselease Close, Great Oakley. They are all charged with conspiring to burgle and conspiring to steal. Chouhaib is also accused of handling stolen goods.

It’s said that the gang, along with others not on the indictment, conspired to commit 22 burglaries and thefts of high-value goods over a two-year period. Charged with running the gang are Chouhaib and the older Mitchell brother, Barry, who was a director of GrabHire4U in Wellingborough.

Prosecutor Dee Toor played recordings of calls between Barry Mitchell and his partner Vicky Knight who questioned him over his true role in the alleged conspiracy.

‘A grand here, 500 there and before you know it, it’s gone’

Ten days after his arrest, Mitchell was overheard on a phonecall asking Ms Knight why she had been going through his accounts and called her a ‘weirdo stalker’.

He added: “It’s none of your business. It’s my money en’t it?

"Get that money out of that account. All of it. ASAP. Things like that have got to be dealt with ASASAP else you’re going to lose it...

"It can’t be left in any accounts because the accounts will get frozen. I’m just trying to protect myself from the f***ing future.

"I could get ten years here or more. Come out f***ing penniless.

"Just be very careful with it because.. a grand here, 500 there and before you know it, it’s gone.”

Ms Knight then switched on the speaker phone and a man alleged to be Robert Mitchell could be heard talking about how he had been told to ‘get out of the country’ by others after being questioned by police.

Robert Mitchell said: “They kept showing me pictures of diggers and everything.”

Barry Mitchell replied: “It’s not guilty to everything geeze’. Simple as.”

‘Bob is the weakest link’

Then on October 6, 2022, two weeks after his first court appearance, Mitchell could be heard in a call to Ms Knight again, saying: “A lot of the stuff is just circumstantial bullshit.”

He told her that he could suggest in court that Chouhaib had hired a container at his yard and that he had played no part in a conspiracy.

He said: “It’s nothing to do with me. Literally nothing to do with me. What’s he puts in it (the container) is up to him.”

The pair discussed Mitchell’s younger brother Robert.

Knight said: “Your weakest link in everything is Bob.”

The following day Mitchell called his dad John Mitchell Snr and his other brother John Mitchell Jr, who are not charged with any offences. He told them John’s fingerprints had been found on a Mini said to have been used in a burglary at Flannels at Rushden Lakes.

Barry Mitchell said: “What you’ve got to do is say sorry I’m not willing to answer your questions.

"You need to be very, very careful. Tipping me right in the sh** here man.”

‘They’ve seized it’

Another of the defendants, William Castle was also heard talking to a female friend from prison on January 6 this year.

He told her: “Today Barry gets his f***ing assets frozen. His business, his car, his bank accounts. Everything.

"It’s going to happen when you’ve had 25 grand transferred from dodgy people for dodgy things.”

He said that Barry Mitchell had got him some new trainers in prison and that Chouhaib had got him a new tracksuit, adding: “Barry sends me £100 a month so I’m fine.”

Castle was then heard telling the woman about a McLaren supercar that had been seized by the police that was said to have been owned by Mitchell

"It’s got a 36k number plate on it. I Spy. 15PY,” he said.

"They’ve seized it.”

Castle was then heard telling the woman about the circumstances surrounding Chouhaib’s arrest. He said: “They arrested Adel in Scotland in Glassy’s Range Rover, with Glassy.

"Yeah Adel was going to the border in Scotland to get the ferry to Morocco. Police got them all there innit.”

In another call Castle said: “I’m remanded till June innit so they can tie all the information together. They’ve frozen Barry and Adel’s accounts, business accounts and that.

"They took £76,000 in cash out of Barry’s house. They took his McLaren off him yesterday.

"They’re saying it’s £4million or summat. Where is it bro? I haven’t got it... Do you know what I mean?”

Flannels burglar ‘went shopping in store days later’

Later in yesterday’s evidence, the jury heard details of a burglary at Flannels.

Staff told the court in statements that the alarm had gone off at the store at 10.29pm on September 22, 2021. When they arrived they discovered the store had been raided.

Two days later, a man who had allegedly been seen on CCTV burgling the store was spotted shopping in the same store ‘browsing, and buying a T-shirt.’ He was detained and taken into custody.

A loss prevention manager for Flannels appeared in the witness box to explain the extent of the stolen items. Initial estimates after the burglary indicated that there were 127 items missing with a value of £26,000. The court was told that later stock-takes put the loss at up to £64,000.

The trial continues.

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