Teens charged in relation to alleged theft of thousands of pounds worth of chewing gum

Two teenagers have been charged with the alleged theft of £125,000 worth of chewing gum from a HGV at a motorway service station.

The incident happened in the early hours of yesterday morning, Wednesday 4 May, at Gloucester Services on the M5 northbound, between junctions 12 and 11a.

Officers attended and following a pursuit two arrests were made.

Keon Sanderson, 18 and of Fieldhead Parade, Birstall, Batley and Ellis Benecke, 19 and of Aysgarth Road, Leeds have both been charged with the alleged theft of chewing gum valued at £125,000 from a vehicle at Gloucester Services and possession of a class B drug, namely cannabis.

Sanderson has also been charged with being suspected to have driven a vehicle and failing to provide a breath test or specimen for analysis. 

They have both been remanded in custody and are due to appear at Cheltenham Magistrates' Court today, Thursday 5 May.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or who has any information which may assist the ongoing investigation is asked to provide this to police online by completing the following form and quoting incident 29 of 4 May: https://www.gloucestershire.police.uk/tua/tell-us-about/cor/tell-us-about-existing-case-report/

Alternatively you can call police on 101, phone Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or visit their website https://crimestoppers-uk.org.