Chop shop gang targeted Porsches and BMWs

Five men who ran chop shops where stolen Porsches, BMWs and Mercedes were dismantled have been jailed.

The cars, which were worth £750,000, were taken apart at a farm near Dunsfold Aerodrome and at a location in Chertsey, both in Surrey.

The parts were sent to a third site in Sawtry, Cambridgeshire.

The men, who all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to receive stolen goods, were sentenced to between six months and 32 months at Guildford Crown Court on Wednesday.

The cars were stolen from sites around the UK and driven to Dunsfold, after having their number plates changed.

During the thefts, a device was used to fool each car's technology into believing its key fob was nearby.

Surrey Police used cameras to track the vehicles, identifying them by make and model.

Deividas Jakaitis, 37, from Sheffield, was sentenced to 32 months, Irmantas Lozuraitis, 41, of no fixed address, was jailed for eight months, and Gytis Krisinikas, 26, from Cranleigh in Surrey, was sentenced to seven months.

All three pleaded guilty on the first day of their trial on Monday.

Two other men had already admitted the charges in December.

Eimantas Mikalauskas, 22, from Cranleigh, was jailed for six months, and Raimundas Dumcius, 24, of no fixed address, was sentenced to eight months.

Samantha Mitchell from the Crown Prosecution Service said: "This gang were highly professional, targeting high-value cars and leaving limited forensic evidence.

"They thought that changing number plates on the vehicles as soon as they had been stolen would help them to evade justice, but they were wrong.

"Thanks to a detailed police investigation and the use of cameras to track the cars, the police were able to identify vehicles of the same make and model, all of which made their way to the chop shop in Surrey."

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