Pair jailed for part in £26k Denbies theft

Two men have been jailed for their part in a break-in at Denbies Wine Estate in Surrey, which saw them attempt to make off with £26,000 worth of wine.

Denbies Wine Estate in Surrey

The men were arrested in July of last year after Denbies manager Christopher White, who lives at the back of the warehouse, called police after he spotted the men loading boxes of wine into a van.

The men drove off, but were met by police coming in the opposite direction. They jumped out of the van and tried to run away but were apprehended with the help of a police dog unit.

The two defendants, along with a third man, had stolen 175 crates of sparkling wine with a total value of £26,250. All the crates of wine were recovered by police.

As reported by Get Surrey, Stephen Meechan, 29, of Thames Avenue in Worcester Park, and Lee Panners, 33, of Waterfield in Tadworth, were sentenced on Thursday at Kingston Crown Court.

Sentencing, Judge Georgina Kent said there have been “significant planning” involved in the robbery, with the men able to enter the property when the alarm was not activated.

Panners and Meechan were also sentenced for burglaries which they had committed while on bail for the offences at Denbies, following their arrest in July 2015.

Panners was sentenced to 36 months in jail for the Denbies burglary, a burglary of a community shop in Kent in December last year and a domestic burglary in Kingston Hill on January 16 this year. Meechan was sentenced to four years and four months for the Denbies burglary and the Kingston Hill burglary.