Nine sentenced in Leeds for £1million vehicle theft and 'chop shop' operation
A man was left with life-changing injuries after being dragged under his own van for half a mile as he tried to stop it being stolen.
Mark Smith, 40, drove over the victim with his own van as he stole it in Wakefield in August 2022, leaving him trapped under the front wheel and being dragged for around 800 metres.
Smith has now been convicted along with eight others who were part of an organised vehicle theft gang in West Yorkshire.
Seven other men and a woman were sentenced with Smith at Leeds Crown Court for their involvement in stealing around £1 million of high-value vehicles and tools and selling the parts in a lucrative 'chop shop' operation in three different locations in Leeds and Dewsbury.
The group stole keyless vehicles by scanning the signal from the owners’ key fobs and using an on-board diagnostics tool to start the vehicles.
The sentences handed down to the gang were as follows:
Mark Smith, of Tong Way, Leeds, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after being found guilty of one count of robbery and sentenced to a further three years for conspiracy to steal motor vehicles.
Andrew Oldroyd, 49, of Wood Lane, Rothwell, admitted two counts of conspiracy to steal motor vehicles and one count of handling stolen goods and sentenced to seven and a half years in prison.
Sam Oliver, 34, of Fifth Avenue, Rothwell, admitted two counts of conspiracy to steal motor vehicles and sentenced to six years and three months in prison.
Adrian Stewart, 35, of Meynell Approach, Leeds, admitted one count of conspiracy to steal motor vehicles and one count of handling stolen goods and sentenced to two years and four months in prison.
Jason Tester, 51, of Cottingley Road, Leeds, was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to steal motor vehicles and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Peter Hoyle, 38, of Aberford Road, Woodlesford, admitted one count of conspiracy to steal motor vehicles and sentenced to 11 months in prison.
Edgar Uzulins, 34, of Baileys Crescent, Leeds, admitted one count of handling stolen goods and sentenced to 20 months in prison suspended for two years.
Julie Hainsworth, 48, of Stratford Avenue, Beeston, was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to steal motor vehicles and sentenced to nine months imprisonment, suspended for two years.
James Hemingway, 50, of Wood Drive, Rothwell, who was sentenced to two months imprisonment after admitted one count of perverting the course of justice.
Det Ch Insp Scott Hartley said: “This was an organised crime group who profited from other people’s misery by targeting high value vehicles and trade vans containing tools. This was a sophisticated enterprise worth an estimated £1 million. “In one incident, significant violence was used when the victim made attempts to stop their vehicle being stolen, showing the willingness and lengths this group would go to carry out these thefts.
"His life has been devastated socially, financially, and physically by the actions of this organised crime group.
The police operation began in November 2022 following the theft of a Range Rover from a car park in Hunslet which was traced to another car park in Rothwell.
Police stopped a second Range Rover seen driving out of the car park at speed and arrested Oldroyd, Oliver and Hoyle who were inside.Keys were then found to two industrial units in Armley and Dewsbury where disassembled parts of Range Rovers and Mercedes Sprinter vans were discovered. They were found to belong to vehicles which had been stolen between September and November 2022.
The court was told that Oldroyd led the conspiracy assisted by Oliver. Together they identified vehicles of a particular profile and planned and arranged the thefts, recruiting others to carry out the thefts and dismantle the vehicles.
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