A gang member who helped steal watches worth £264,900 from a jewellers in Bluewater has been jailed for more than eight years.

Cosmin Muraru, 25, from Birmingham, took part in the burglary of the Breitling store in Bluewater shopping centre in the early hours of June 20, last year.

The burglary was part of a £3.1 million jewellery-stealing spree from 10 other locations across the country.

After parking a silver Ford Mondeo in the Thames Walk car park, the gang set the car on fire as a distraction.

Six men then broke through the store’s glass shopfront using sledgehammers and filled their bags with watches before escaping on foot.

The gang’s raid caused over £60,000 in damage to the store and shopping centre.

A black hooded top with a DNA match for Muraru was found on a footpath off Hedgerow Road.

Muraru was then arrested and charged by Staffordshire Police officers on September 21.

Police forces in Stafforshire, Kent, Warwickshire, Thames Valley, Hampshire, Cambridgeshire, Lancashire and Derbyshire teamed up with the West Midlands Organised Crime Unit and the National Crime Agency to bring the group to justice.

Muraru was sentenced at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court to six years and seven months for conspiracy to commit burglaries and 18 months for conspiracy to commit arson.

On March 17, five other members of Muraru’s gang were given sentences ranging from between eight years and eight years, two months for conspiracy to commit burglaries.

One man was sentenced to six years and six months for aggravated burglary and conspiracy.

Detective Constable Mark Froome, an investigating officer, said: “The offences these men committed were brazen and well organised in an almost militaristic fashion.

“This meant that a complex and diligent investigation, involving nine police forces and the Romanian authorities, was needed to secure these convictions.

“It is pleasing that our partnership work has brought about such significant sentences and I hope that this serves as a message to organised criminals that we have the resources and structure in place to target them and bring them to justice.”