Over the course of a year, a ruthless car heist gang in the UK stole more than 50 high-end cars favoured by royals, billionaires and celebrities, worth almost $8 million.
The literal key to their success was a “master device” which allowed them to break into keyless Rolls Royces, Bentleys, Range Rovers and Alfa Romeos with ease.
The gadget copied the signals of the targeted vehicles’ keys and wirelessly transmitted it to a second device that unlocked the cars.
Video released by Surrey Police showed the gang in action, using their system to effortlessly open a silver Bentley SUV, ram out a driveway gate and into the street.
Perry Lovejoy, 29, Luke Jackson, 28, Billy Harrison, 30, and Harry Sales, 28, were today sentenced collectively to 12.5 years in prison, after admitting charges of conspiracy to steal and conspiracy to acquire criminal property.
Jackson was hit with more time after he pleaded guilty to stealing another 42 cars, worth $4 million.
Surrey Police described how their complex investigation had tracked the gang’s thefts across multiple counties in the south east.
They arrested the four men in April, after detectives had meticulously pieced together intelligence, forensics, number plate recognition, call data and CCTV footage.
Investigating Officer Detective Constable Matt Earl said the gang was motivated by “pure greed” and described how their thefts had created 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,” Earl said.
“We are glad that these criminals have been successfully brought to justice and will now have lots of time to think about their actions while sitting in prison.”
