A Romanian burglar who was involved in taking over £2million in copper wiring from the empty headquarters of Chinese tech giant Huawei has been jailed and faces deportation.

Father-of-ten Alexandru Parole had been part of a group of who pulled up to the 140,000 sq ft building in Reading in a Seat Altea and a Mercedes Sprinter van to burgle the commercial premises, a court heard.

He is the only one of what is believed to be 10 burglars who have ever been caught over the heist - which loss adjustors estimate caused in excess of £2,152,000 in a total loss over the course of four burglaries.

He was jailed for 26 months and is now 'subject to automatic deportation,' the judge told him.

Huawei had moved its HQ to the Green Park industrial estate in Reading in April 2013 but in 2022 announced it would downsize when its lease expired, after the the UK government declared the telecoms behemoth a high-risk vendor.

Joseph Barlow, prosecuting, told Reading Crown Court that by late 2023, the large office building - which features an underground car park - had been 'stripped back to a bare shell' by management company CW Duke.

But despite Green Park, which owns the building, having private security across the industrial park, the former Huawei HQ became a target for burglaries.

Two burglaries took place in August 2023, in which first cabling in a voltage room on the site was taken and then cabling was stolen from transformers on the site, causing damage of approximately £500,000.

Mr Barlow told how the construction site manager had set up a motion activated 'trap camera' in response, to try and capture future burglaries.

On September 5, 2023, the manager was informed that Green Park security had disturbed a group which had been parked next to the site, causing them to abandon their vehicles and flee on foot.

Footage captured by the trap camera showed members of the group spending hours carrying bags of the copper cabling, which had also been loaded up into orange trolleys.

'Quite a large amount of cabling was laid out, ready to be clipped into pieces', Mr Barlow explained. 

'Once the cable in itself has been clipped, effectively it cannot be used. It has to be laid in one piece.'

Parole, of Russell Rise, Luton, had been arrested after his DNA was found on cigarette butts in the abandoned vehicles. 

He was identified in the footage captured by the site manager and a V5 certificate for the Mercedes Sprinter van was found at his address.

Mr Barlow said only one other suspect had been identified, who was currently the subject of a warrant. The other eight members of the group remained at large.

The fourth burglary took place overnight on December 4, 2023, Mr Barlow said, in which 'considerable copper was stolen'.

Although the prosecution only alleged Parole was involved in one of the four burglaries, Mr Barlow said: 'By engaging in copper thefts of this kind and of the scale we have seen, it would have contributed to that cost. 

'The nature of such costs is perhaps foreseeable, even if you are not sure about Mr Parole's intention in his own involvement.'

The court heard Parole had two previous convictions, one from July 21, 2023, at Derby Crown Court which heard he had burgled electrical items from a manufacturing warehouse in Chesterfield, for which he received a suspended sentence for a period of 12 months.

His other conviction was from May 8 last year at Cambridge Crown Court, which heard he was involved of the theft of scrap metal from an engineering store in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. He was jailed over the offence and driving related matters.

Dhaneshwar Sharma, defending, pointed out his client had admitted the offence of burglary with intent to steal on Tuesday, the first day of his trial, but accepted his mitigation was 'limited'.

'He has no less than 10 children', Mr Sharma said. 'His wife was resident in the UK lawfully. Owing to his selfish behaviour, him being incarcerated, she has returned to Romania with all the children.

'Whilst nothing was stolen whilst Mr Parole was involved in this enterprise, I concede that was more to do with the good work of the security on site. There was no loss when Mr Parole was involved.'

Judge Alan Blake, sentencing, told Parole: 'You were organised in a series of repeated burglaries targeting a commercial premises which resulted in very substantial losses, exceeding £2million.

'Your own involvement was limited to one night, overnight on September 4 to 5 2023 when, in fact, your group were unsuccessful in stealing copper wiring, which was being targeted.

'Your group plainly intended substantial economic gain for yourselves, resulting in substantial loss to another.

'Security guards will have had a level of fear and anxiety given the size of your group and risk of could have happened in a confrontation.

'Your dishonesty results in costs to wider society through disrupt and higher insurance premiums.'

Judge Blake jailed Parole for 26 months, pointing out he had committed the burglary within just three months of a suspended sentence being imposed on him for the Chesterfield burglary.

'You will be subject to automatic deportation subject to any decision by the Home Office or the First Tier Tribunal', Judge Blake said. 'I am told you wish to return to be reconciled with your family in Romania.'