A MAN who stole a ring worth nearly £40,000 from a jeweller in Cirencester in 2018 but was not caught until five years later was finally jailed yesterday.

Alin Mijloc, aged 42, of no fixed address in the UK, was sentenced to two years imprisonment by a judge at Gloucester Crown Court.

Prosecutor Neil Treharne said that Mijloc entered Walter Bull & Son Ltd jewellers, in Dyer Street, Cirencester, on Tuesday, March 27 in 2018, at 3.50pm and asked to some of the top of the range items on display.

Mr Treharne said: “He was served by a member of staff, Martin Coleman, who showed him a number of rings, some of them that were in the window.

"The defendant tried them on his little finger and kept Mr Coleman busy by going back and forth to the display as well as asking him for as much detail as possible about the items.

"Another member of staff, Ms Drake becomes suspicious of Mijloc and asked him to step back and away from the window when he requested to see more rings.

“Mijloc was seen on CCTV, but not by the staff, fiddling with his hand and placing a ring in his jeans pocket.

"He became defensive when the shop staff couldn’t find the ring.

"The staff were sure that Mijloc was in possession of the ring, which was valued at £39,950, and they locked the door.

"He protested his innocence about the missing ring and his behaviour then changed dramatically and tried to leave the shop but the door was locked.

“A struggle then ensued and he managed to push past the staff, unlock the door and escape.

"The police attended the shop and a forensic examination of the premises revealed Mijloc's fingerprints, from which he was identified."

A warrant for Mijloc’s arrest was issued but Mijloc was not picked up until February 5 this year when he was found in Northern Ireland and arrested.

He was interviewed, appeared before the court via video link, and was remanded in custody.

John Simmons, defending Mijloc yesterday, said: “He is under no illusion that he will receive a custodial sentence today and he admits it was unpleasant for all those involved. 

"He states he was under duress from a Romanian gangster family and he himself was under threat from them.

"He handed the ring over to another man, as he was told to do.

“I understand that Mijloc told the court at an earlier hearing that he was acting under threat.

"His stance has not changed but his credibility was called into question when he claimed he had already been convicted and dealt with for this offence at a different court.

“The Home Office has indicated that he will be deported as soon as he has served his sentence."

Mijloc pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to theft of the ring from Walter Bull & Son Ltd on March 27, 2018.