Gatwick Airport car park thefts gang jailed

05.06.09

A gang of 5 men were convicted of offences relating to the theft of high performance cars across Surrey, including stealing six cars on one night from a Gatwick Airport car park, the Crawley Advertiser reports. The group were the subject of a lengthy Police surveillance operation into  burglaries where car keys were taken and high-value vehicles worth more than £500,000 then stolen, but were eventually arrested following a Police sting after the Gatwick car park thefts.

At Kingston Crown Court on Wednesday, Benjamin Cheeseman, 21, and William Patterson, 26, both from Stanwell, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit theft and handling stolen property. Scott Anderson, 24, from Ashford, was found guilty of handling stolen property while 29-year-old Robert Green, from Addlestone, admitted conspiracy to commit theft and handling stolen property. Sam Guyatt, 21, from Teddington, south-west London, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary and handling stolen property.

In October 2008, police officers executed warrants at 13 addresses in Surrey, Berkshire and London as part of Operation Shield, the force's strategy targeting people travelling into Surrey to commit crimes. The court heard that in June 2008, 6 vehicles were stolen when the gang broke into the Ace Parking facility near Gatwick Airport. One of the vehicles was a BMW M5 valued at £44,000. The gang contacted an undercover police officer and agreed to sell him the car for £2,800.

Three more of the stolen cars were identified on June 17 from Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras in Surrey. Video footage showed each car being closely followed by a vehicle used by gang members.

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