Five men charged after £400,000 watches haul from Potteries break-in

Five men have been charged with conspiracy to commit burglaries across the UK after a break-in which netted a £400,000 haul of high-value watches.

Staffordshire Police said a sixth man, aged 26, had been referred to immigration officials after its investigation into the burglary at a Beaverbrooks jewellery store at Stoke-on-Trent's Intu Potteries Shopping Centre.

A fire was started at the centre in the early hours of March 10 before offenders broke in via its main doors.

The five men charged are Vasile Daniel Cardos, 26, of Halesowen Street, Rowley Regis, West Midlands and Bogdan Costel Neagu, 24, Vasile Robert Muraru, 19, Ioan Bucuresteanu, 24, and Claudiu Ionut Danila, all of no fixed address.

The men were arrested in Birmingham on Wednesday and are due before magistrates in Newcastle-under-Lyme on Saturday.

A seventh man, Cosmin Moraru, was charged with one count of burglary and one count of conspiracy to commit burglary. He appeared before magistrates on Friday and was remanded in custody to appear at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court next month.

DCI Ricky Fields, from Staffordshire's Safeguarding and Investigation team, said: "We are continuing to pursue several lines of inquiry as part of a detailed and far-reaching investigation which has involved working with several other forces.

"Further arrests are planned as we continue to investigate the break-in at Beaverbrooks and the investigation is far from over.

"The five men at court today are charged with conspiring to commit burglaries at locations throughout the country."