Mobiles raid: Eight charged

More than 9,000 Nokia handsets were taken

Eight men have appeared in court charged in connection with the theft of mobile phones worth £3m.

The men were charged with handling stolen goods following an armed raid on a warehouse near Heathrow Airport on 24 June.

Seven men were remanded in custody and another given bail during a special sitting of Staines Magistrates Court.

The men, from the Surrey and Buckinghamshire areas, will next appear before the same court on 16 July.

The warehouse is owned by freight company Hawk Precision Logistics.

The court appearances followed a series of arrests last Thursday night in Staines, Slough and the Midlands.

The eight men charged were:

• Rajinder Sahota, 31, a car salesman from Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire

• Ajar Acar, 35, a businessman from Chelsea, west London

• Jagdev Shergill, 32, a businessman from Slough, Berkshire

• Nicholas Beagley, 29, a computer company director of Chobham, Surrey, who was granted bail.

• Anil Sandal, 28, from Slough

• Rajesh Kashwala, 34, from Hayes, west London

• Nilesh Lakha, 25, from Loughborough, Leicestershire

• Paul Farry, 38, a car salesman from Guildford, Surrey.