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ITN
Prestige car theft gang jailed
Prestige car theft gang jailed
Members of a gang who amassed more than £4.5 million by laundering stolen prestige cars are beginning prison sentences.They targeted top of the range makes including Ferraris, Porsches, Mercedes and BMWs, which once stolen, often at gun or knifepoint, were transformed into "clean" models by the south London-based gang.They used genuine parts and paperwork from similar models written off on the continent to transform the cars before they were sold off to unsuspecting motorists through trade publications and internet sites.Southwark Crown Court heard that eight of the ten conspirators were sentenced to a total of 17 years in prison. The investigation was the single biggest inquiry undertaken by Scotland Yard's stolen vehicle unit in a decade.Up to 190 vehicles were stolen from across London and many had their identities changed at a garage under railway arches in New Cross, south-east London.At the heart of the conspiracy were Tube driver Anthony Holt, 41, of Sidcup, Kent, who was jailed for four years; unemployed Robert Taylor, 36, of Peckham, who was sentenced to 30 months and mechanic Omar Abbas, 36, of New Cross, who was jailed for five years.Holt was the most prolific author of false documents submitted to the DVLA. Handwriting analysis later tied him to 136 vehicles.He brought in his girlfriend, Emma Rayfield, 32 - who was training to be a police officer at the Metropolitan Police College in Hendon - to help him with some of the false applications and sell on one of the stolen cars.Taylor was linked to the theft and sale of vehicles worth more than £300,000, the court heard. He also recruited DVLA official David Adams, based at offices in Sidcup, Kent, to help process false applications and register vehicles without further scrutiny.Abbas was the mechanic responsible for "ringing" the vehicles by welding on false identification plates and changing other vital parts at his tiny garage in New Cross.Rayfield of Sidcup, Kent, admitted three counts of forgery and dishonest handling and was sentenced to 75 hours community service.Adams, 31, now a security guard of Barnhurst, Kent, admitted corruption in a public office and was sentenced to 200 hours community service.Michael Kingsley, 40, a motor trader from Brockley, southeast London, admitted conspiracy to dishonestly handle and was sentenced to 15 months in prison.Jason Okoh, 32, a salesman of South Norwood, south London, admitted conspiracy to defraud and was sentenced to one year in prison.Mark Danlardy, 32, a doorman of Dog Kennel Hill, East Dulwich, admitted conspiracy to defraud and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.Unemployed Terrance Harding, 31, of Colliers Wood, south-west London, admitted conspiracy to dishonestly handle and was sentenced to nine months in prison.Unemployed Matthew Wilson, 52, of Orpington, Kent, admitted dishonest handling and was sentenced to a 12 month suspended prison sentence last month.© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.
ITN | June 1, 2007
