TWO brothers who were described as professional criminals and handlers of stolen property have been jailed by a judge at Warwick Crown Court.

But a Shipston man who took part in some of the individual offences in south Warwickshire with Jason and Adrian Smith escaped with a suspended sentence.

Jason Smith, aged 34, of Tachbrook Road, Leamington, was jailed for five years and Adrian Smith, 32, also of Tachbrook Road, for three-and-a-half years after they had admitted charges of conspiracy to steal and conspiracy to receive stolen goods.

Gavin Pearce, 31, of Badgers Crescent, Shipston, was sentenced to 12 months in prison suspended for two years, with two years' supervision after he admitted two charges of theft, one of attempted theft and one of handling stolen property.

Prosecutor Eugene Hickey said Jason Smith accepted receiving a large amount of stolen property but only one theft, while Adrian accepted taking part in three thefts but only handling three items knowing they had been stolen.

The case involved a police operation code-named Operation Grotto which was set up to target the Smith brothers and resulted in four addresses being raided and a substantial amount of stolen property being recovered.

There were also a spate of break-ins at Margetts Hill Farm near Long Compton and at 1am on 30 October 2006 an alarm went off and it was found that a drill, Slovenian bank notes and other items worth a total of £2,136 had been stolen.

The police went to Pearce's home where they saw the Maverick and a Seat car owned by the Smiths outside and in the house they found the drill, which he admitted receiving.

Adrian was spotted nearby, and a police dog tracked him to where he was hiding between a car and a wall and the Slovenian bank notes were found nearby.

In July 2006 the police were called to the IMI Norgren premises in Campden Road, Shipston, where the padlock on the gates had been cut by Pearce and Adrian Smith.

A tipper driven by Adrian came at the officers with its lights on full beam and one had to jump behind a tree.