They may have been working out of a lock up in Northamptonshire, but a car ringing gang managed to sell dozens of cars by putting fakes number plates on them and false DVLA paperwork.
The gang of two consisted of Ross Underwood and Martin McBrien who are both aged 23 used their skills and knowledge of the system to sell £500,000 worth of ringed cars.
The court heard that the team would steal cars to order, produce fake number plates, vehicle identification numbers and even managed to obtain fake DVLA paperwork before advertising the cars in Auto Trader.
This is where unsuspecting buyers would trader for miles to check the cars out before parting with their cash, only to find out later that they had bought a stolen vehicle and therefore had lost their all of their money.
Michael Ellis, prosecuting said, “He handed over £7,600 cash for the car and was given a V5 registration document and a set of keys. The V5 led the victim to believe the sale was legitimate.
“Most of these cloned vehicles had come from car key burglaries, through Auto Trader, using stolen blank V5s which had been taken during a burglary of a village post office in Copthorne, West Sussex.
“The buyer contacted the DVLA and was informed the V5 was counterfeit, the car was stolen and with false plates and the VIN number had been tampered with. He lost the £7,600.”
Mr Ellis added: “These defendants showed a high degree of sophistication, stealing cars from a wide geographic area, to a high value. Their apprehension had a noticeable effect upon car crime in this county.”
The gang obtained blank V5 forms, which had been stolen from a Post Office raid in West Sussex, while they had a rivet machine to replace the VIN number plate on the cars body work.
Judge Peter Morrell said, “You were a ringleader. I’m not saying you were the only one but you played a prominent role. McBrien joined the conspiracy late and I deal with you as very much of a foot soldier.”
They were both jailed for a total of thirty two months each after pleading guilty.
Source [Northampton Chronicle]
