Trio to spend years behind bars for 'sophisticated' thefts of cars and lorry trailers
Three men who stole cars and HGV trailers loaded with laptops, household goods and medical supplies in a series of raids have been brought to justice.
Matthew Wilkes, Alan Edwards and Conrad Pearce were found guilty on December 19 of offences of conspiracy to steal BMWs, HGVs and trailers over a two-year period.
Wilkes, aged 31 of Willows House in Droitwich, was sentenced to six years for conspiracy to steal BMWs and six years for conspiracy to steal HGVs and trailers to be served concurrently.
Edwards, aged 39 of Portland Drive in Tividale, was jailed for four years for conspiracy to steal BMWs and four years for conspiracy to steal HGVs to be served concurrently.
Pearce, aged 25 of Keats Road in Wolverhampton, was jailed for two years and four months for conspiracy to steal HGVs and trailers.
The men have been in prison since 2021 awaiting trial but were found guilty on December 19.
Their crimes involved stealing high-value BMW vehicles and HGV cabs and trailers laden with goods during 2019 and 2020.
Their haul included seven BMW cars valued at £336,000 and goods to the value of around £1 million.
Police say they worked together to steal high-value BMW cars from dealerships and sales forecourts across the country during 2019 and 2020, with the cars stolen from Worcester, Cheshire, Hampshire, Thames Valley, London, Avon and Somerset.
The group also stole 10 HGV trailers laden with goods including laptops, household appliances and medical supplies, from transport hubs across Birmingham, Suffolk, the East Midlands, Leicestershire and Merseyside.
They used a stolen HGV cab on false plates to hook up the trailers, then drove the trailers away and parked them securely. They continuously changed the registration plates on their stolen cab to avoid detection.
In one of their crimes, a trailer containing Dell Chromebooks worth more than £500,000 was stolen.
The consignment of computers came from Government funding during Covid-19 and were destined for under-privileged children during lockdown.
The sophisticated set-up was uncovered by officers from the force’s CID Priorities Team who linked the offences and the thieves to the crimes.
The men were arrested in March 2021 and when they searched their homes they found sophisticated tech including scanners, key cloning equipment, tracker and tracer radios to track vehicles and block communication signals.
Large quantities of cash, sets of registration plates, mobile phones used as burner or clean phones and counting machines were also found, while footage found on Matthew Wilkes’s phone showed that he had filmed himself stealing a BMW.
The officer who led the investigation, Detective Constable Mark Plant, said: “The offences took place nationally from as far afield as Liverpool, London, Southampton and Ipswich.
"With vehicle crime recognised as a police priority, we uncovered a sophisticated operation with only one of the stolen BMWs ever being recovered.
"The loss of contracts to the victims and huge insurance losses only further burdens the transport industry which ultimately results in higher prices for consumers.
"Hopefully with the three thieves now serving prison sentences, the victims can feel a little bit of justice has been served.”
