A MAN has been jailed for a year after stealing from a gaming machine at The Old Star pub in Winsford.

Luke Partington, 35, of Beechwood Road in Flintshire, appeared at Chester Crown Court yesterday where he received a 12-month jail term after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to steal.

His crime was part of a larger conspiracy which also saw two other men jailed for similar crimes across the country.

Ian Parker, 31, of Burton Road in Chester pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to steal and was sentenced to 19 months in prison, while David Gordon, 48, of Waggon Walk in Birmingham pleaded guilty to theft and received a nine month prison sentence.

Between October 2017 and April 2018 Parker, Partington and Gordon conspired to steal from gaming machines at pubs in Chester, Ellesmere Port and Winsford as well as Birmingham, Merseyside, North Wales and Humberside.

Det Const Matthew Stenton, of Chester Local Policing Unit, said: “Parker, Partington and Gordon were all utterly brazen in their crime sprees by targeting pubs all over the country and believing they would never be caught.

“Today’s conviction shows we will track you down and put you before the courts.”

The crime spree began on October 17 where Parker snapped the padlock off the front of a gaming machine at a pub on Heath Road in Chester and stole £392.

On the same evening Parker then made his way to a pub on Grosvenor Street in Chester where he broke into another gaming machine and stole £215 after distracting staff.

On January 17 Gordon was spotted on CCTV at the Royal Oak pub in Hoole where he was identified on CCTV interfering with one of the machines. He went on to commit another offence on March 22 at a pub on Northgate Street in Chester where he was caught breaking the padlock on the gaming machine and opening the door.

Parker continued his spree at the Airbus Sports and Social Club in Boughton on the February 20 where they stole £50 from the machine before being confronted by one of the barmen and running away from the scene.

On March 6 at the Woodlands Hotel in Ellesmere Port, Parker once again targeted the gaming machine and stole £700. Another offence was later committed the same day at a hotel in Bebington with Parker caught on CCTV blocking the view of other customers from seeing him steal £346.

On the afternoon of April 11, Partington attended the Old Star in Winsford and placed toilet paper over a camera lens before breaking into the machine.