Four members of a Surrey gang who stole more than 50 luxury cars including Rolls Royce, Alfa Romeo, Bentley and Land Rover vehicles have been jailed. A court heard they targeted high value keyless cars across the south east in a year-long crime spree.
During the investigation, officers discovered how the organised crime gang used the “relay attack” technique – with a master device to copy the signal of the vehicle key. This was then transmitted it to a second smaller device, which replicated the key and unlocked the car.
A manual for a relay device was also found saved on a mobile phone seized from one of the defendants, Perry Lovejoy. Officers arrested the suspects on April 26 last year.
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Investigators built a picture of their illegal activities through intelligence, forensics, ANPR, call data, witness testimony and CCTV enquiries. Police said the 53 vehicles were stolen, with a combined value of over £3.7 million.
All four men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal and conspiracy to acquire criminal property. They were sentenced as follows:
- Perry Lovejoy, 29, of Reigate Road in Horley, was sentenced to three years in prison
- Luke Jackson, 28, of Shoreham Close in Croydon, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison
- Billy Harrison, 30, of Tollers Lane in Coulsdon, was sentenced to three years behind bars
- Harry Sales, 28, of Cornwall Road in Croydon, was sentenced to three years in prison
Jackson also had additional offences taken into consideration when sentenced after admitting his guilt in stealing a further 42 cars, with a combined value of £2.1 million. He was also sentenced for two offences of burglary committed whilst stealing four of the cars after pleading guilty. He received 18 months in prison to be served concurrently.
Lovejoy was also sentenced to being concerned in the supply of Class B drugs (cannabis) after pleading guilty to this offence when officers found messages on his phone showing supply activity. He received nine months in prison, to be served consecutively.
‘Pure greed’
Investigating Officer DC Matt Earl, said; “This was a large-scale investigation that was made possible by the hard-work and dedication of the Serious and Organised Crime Unit, as well as the support and collaboration of other neighbouring police forces. The level of criminality that these four people undertook was significant and had a huge financial impact.
“These men acted out of pure greed and had no regard for how their crimes may affect the lives of their victims.”
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