Man jailed for three years over £16,000 BQ thefts in London and south east

A man who stole about £16,000 worth of goods, mainly taps, from BQ stores across London and the south east has been jailed for three years after a yearlong series of thefts, police said. Daniel Cleveland, 33, of Bromley, pleaded guilty to nine counts of theft and three counts of attempted theft at Lewes Crown Court on August 19 and was sentenced on September 25. Officers arrested him at his home on April 30.

Police and BQ investigators said the offences took place over a 13 month period between February 2024 and March 2025 and involved nine reported thefts and three attempted thefts. CCTV and bodyworn footage shown to investigators captured several incidents, including one at the BQ store in Larkfield, Kent, in which Cleveland and an unidentified accomplice were seen loading boxes into a trolley in the shop and throwing them over a fence from inside the garden centre. The pair retrieved the items on the other side and loaded them into a getaway vehicle displaying false plates, authorities said.

Stores targeted included branches in Greenwich, south east London, Ashford and Larkfield in Kent, Farnborough in Hampshire, West Thurrock and Braintree in Essex and Milton Keynes in...