A WATERLOO man has been jailed after stealing thousands of pounds worth of luggage from a train.

Jamie Letremy, of Mitchell Avenue, was sent to prison for 30 weeks after Kirklees magistrates heard how he swiped suitcases from passengers after boarding a train at Huddersfield in January last year.

He was also sentenced for a string of other offences, including further thefts, fraud, and possession of Class A drugs.

The magistrates, sitting in Huddersfield, were told that the 28-year-old conspired with his brother Tyrone Letremy, in the thefts.

Tyrone Letremy was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison for the thefts last month.

Magistrates were told that between January 18 and February 2 last year, British Transport Police reported several luggage thefts from trains between Dewsbury and Huddersfield.

Carole Lawford, prosecuting, said that together with his brother, Letremy was responsible for stealing luggage belonging to two passengers on January 21.

She said that the first victim was Sam Rippon, who boarded a First TransPennine Express train at Manchester Airport to travel to Garforth.

Another passenger who had his luggage taken was Daren Fu, who got on the train at Manchester Piccadilly to travel to York.

On boarding the train, the men both placed their suitcases on the lower tier of one of the luggage racks on the train.

Ms Lawford said: “Mr Rippon saw the luggage when the train departed Huddersfield but was dozing off.

“When he woke at Dewsbury he could not see it. He was approached by Mr Fu who said his luggage had also been taken.”

The prosecutor added that Mr Fu saw men standing near to the luggage rack and taking cases off the train but the train was busy and he was unable to get to it to check on it. Magistrates were told that Letremy and his brother were picked up on CCTV boarding the train at Huddersfield train station.

Cameras on the train then showed them standing by the luggage rack as the passenger had described.

Ms Lawford said: “They appeared to be taking a keen interest in its contents.

“Just prior to Dewsbury, Jamie picked up black suitcases from the rail and placed them in front of Tyrone, then at Dewsbury they both left the train with the luggage.’’ Ms Lawford said that the items in one of the suitcases were worth £1,600, while the other was valued at £1,000.

She said the high value was due to the fact that one of the complainants had been due to go on a cruise to America the following day. The other victim, she said, had just come back from working in America taking photographs and all his equipment was in the suitcase.

Neither of the suitcases were recovered.

Magistrates were told that when Letremy was arrested for the theft he had the Class A drugs heroin and crack cocaine in his possession.

He also stole a Skodia Fabia from outside a property on Keldregate in Deighton and then committed fraud by claiming he was the owner in order to sell it.

The bench heard that Letremy was a friend of the real owner, James Greaves, and would stay at his house.

On June 19 he took the spare keys for the car out of a bedside cabinet and stole the car worth £6,000.

The car had all of its documents in it as Mr Greaves had decided to sell it and the following day Letremy took the vehicle to a used car dealer in Birkby and sold it, pocketing £800.

When police went to Letremy’s home to arrest him for this they found that he was growing cannabis in his bedroom.

A cupboard had been set up for this, lined with foil, lightbulbs and a hose connected to the electricity supply.

Letremy’s crime spree continued through to December 1 when he stole £119 worth of perfume from TK Maxx.

He admitted all of the offences, appearing before the court via a prison video link as he is currently remanded to crown court on separate burglary matters.

Magistrates sentenced him to 18 weeks in prison for the vehicle theft and 12 weeks for stealing the luggage.

Letremy also received six weeks for fraud, but this will run concurrently with the other sentences,

He was given no separate penalty for the shop theft, cannabis production or drugs possession.