Two men- one from Ely- on the run after escaping from separate prisons are not only related but were both jailed for being involved in separate organised crime gangs.

Ely Standard: Members of an organised crime gang which committed more than 200 burglaries in an 11-month crime spree have been jailed for a total of 71 years. Picture: CAMBS POLICE Littleport BP garage was targetted by the gangMembers of an organised crime gang which committed more than 200 burglaries in an 11-month crime spree have been jailed for a total of 71 years. Picture: CAMBS POLICE Littleport BP garage was targetted by the gang (Image: Archant)

Timothy Stone-Parker of Clay Way, Ely was jailed for six-and-a-half years in 2018 for his involvement in more than 200 burglaries over an 11-month period.

Half of the crimes were committed across the county – many in East Cambridgeshire – and a garage was used in Wisbech to dismantle stolen cars to sell on or to export.

Police estimate the gang cost victims in excess of £2 million.

The gang would mask their faces using balaclavas and smash or force open doors or windows in broad daylight.

Ely Standard: Members of an organised crime gang which committed more than 200 burglaries in an 11-month crime spree have been jailed for a total of 71 years. Picture: CAMBS POLICE Massive damage caused by the gang to BP garage at LittleportMembers of an organised crime gang which committed more than 200 burglaries in an 11-month crime spree have been jailed for a total of 71 years. Picture: CAMBS POLICE Massive damage caused by the gang to BP garage at Littleport (Image: Archant)

They would steal specific items, mainly high-powered BMWs and Audis, firearms, cash and jewellery, all of which they could dispose of through contacts.

Stolen vehicles were put on false plates and left in residential parking areas before being used to commit further crimes.

Most were raids on homes, although commercial premises and ATMs, including several in East Cambs, were also targeted.

Norfolk suffered a similar number of burglaries to Cambridgeshire while other offences took place in Suffolk, Essex and Bedfordshire.

Ely Standard: Tony Smith, from Willingham, and Charlie Oakley from Shefford, have been sentenced after being convicted of eight ram raids. The photographs are of the aftermath of the raids. FeltwellBEDFORDSHIRE POLICETony Smith, from Willingham, and Charlie Oakley from Shefford, have been sentenced after being convicted of eight ram raids. The photographs are of the aftermath of the raids. FeltwellBEDFORDSHIRE POLICE (Image: Archant)

His brother-in-law Charlie Oakley of George Street, Shefford, Bedfordshire, was jailed in 2018 for six years after admitting involvement in a number of ram raids.

He was one of three men who got away with an estimated £250,000 after eight ram raids across seven counties: none of the cash was recovered.

Their downfall came after an unsuccessful raid on the Co-op in Mill Street, Isleham.

The Eastern Regional Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) deployed a helicopter to trace the offenders, who fled in a dark Audi estate, and they arrested all three men 23 miles away at Needingworth in Huntingdonshire

Ely Standard: Tony Smith, from Willingham, and Charlie Oakley from Shefford, have been sentenced after being convicted of eight ram raids. The photographs are of the aftermath of the raids. GamlingayBEDFORDSHIRE POLICETony Smith, from Willingham, and Charlie Oakley from Shefford, have been sentenced after being convicted of eight ram raids. The photographs are of the aftermath of the raids. GamlingayBEDFORDSHIRE POLICE (Image: Archant)

Oakley, 27, was being held at North Sea Camp, a men’s open prison near Boston in Lincolnshire.

Stone-Parker, 24, escaped from Hollesley Bay, a category D men’s prison and young Oofenders Institution, located in the village of Hollesley, near Woodbridge.

Call police in 101 if you see either man.