Three men sentenced after pleading guilty to stealing money from ticket vending machines in London

Three men have been sentenced for a series of thefts and attempted thefts on ticket vending machines in the Home Counties and London.

Florin Loghin, 24, of no fixed abode, Alexandru Nistor, 22, of Moulton Rise, Luton, and Sebastian Lupu, 21, of Hibbert Street, Luton were sentenced to jail for the following time:

Lupu – 14 months

Nistor – two and a half years

Loghin – three years

Lupa pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal on 14 July and Nistor pleaded guilty to the charge on 25 September, both men were sentenced on the same day, respectively.

Loghin was found guilty by a jury for conspiring with others to steal between 30 March and May. He was found guilty and sentenced on 23 November at Blackfriars Crown Court.

The three men were involved and responsible for 42 separate offences over a seven week period at railway stations in Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Essex and numerous London Boroughs.

The total theft and damage value was in the region of £200k.

The men would enter locked up railway stations via the tracks wearing balaclavas and Halloween face masks when it was dark and target the machines using crow bars.

As part of the investigation by British Transport Police the men were identified, arrested and charged for the crimes, which happened between 31 March and 7 June.

Loghin was arrested at Luton airport on 18 May as he was attempting to flee the county and the Nistor and Lupu were arrested on the M25 while they were on their way to their 43rd offence.

Det Con Dean Percival who led the investigation said: “This was long investigation which required us to go through hours and hours of CCTV. Thankfully we caught them but not before they caused hundreds and thousands of pounds worth of damage.

“We are fortunate that the railway network is a CCTV rich environment and that should serve as a reminder to any other criminals who think it is ok to break into stations to steal and cause damage, that they will be caught.”