A 32 year old Plymouth man, Gareth Treharne, was so expert at breaking into vehicles that between May and August 2008, just 4 months, he broke into over 100 vehicles without being captured.
He was so skilled in his trade that many owners never even realised their vehicle had been broken into until they noticed some of their belongings missing.
The Police, to their credit, eventually captured him on camera when he broke into a Police Covert Capture Car which had a Sat Nav left in view as bait.
Mr Treharne pleaded guilty on November 5th to theft of the Sat Nav and asked for 51 similar offences to be taken into account.
His reward! – a 6 month prison sentence for these offences plus a further two months for breaching a suspended sentence.
Magistrates told Treharne that despite having the care of his six-year-old son, he had caused thousands of pounds’ worth of damage to vehicles and great distress to his victims.
Acting DI Matt Lawrence, said:
“Thanks to this successful result, 51 people now know who committed the offence against them. It should also have an effect on the criminal fraternity of Plymouth – and our message to them is that you don’t know where our covert capture cars are”.
“Thieves will even look for the windscreen sucker mark left by a sat-nav holder, and break in on the off-chance.”
“With Christmas coming up, we also ask people not to use their car as a staging-post for their shopping, as this is very attractive to thieves.”