Huncoat man admits part in £1m caravan thefts plot

7:20am Wednesday 19th November 2008

A HUNCOAT man has admitted his part in a European-wide plot to steal high-value caravans, police said.

Thomas Smith, 27, of Whinney Hill Road, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal and theft of caravans across Lancashire.

His co-defendant, 28-year-old Anthony George of Radcliffe, near Manchester, admitted the same charges at Preston Crown Court yesterday.

Both were arrested last summer after an investigation by Lancashire police’s Serious and Organised Crime Unit (SOCU). The probe in August 2007 was into the theft of vehicles and high-value caravans throughout Lancashire, the North West and Europe, police said.

Detectives found various locations in Lancashire were being targeted for the plot, with high value caravans being stolen using 4x4-type vehicles to tow them away. Police said the caravans were then transported to the Doncaster area to be ‘disposed of’.

Working in partnership with investigators from the insurance industry, the police operation led to the recovery of stolen property in various parts of the UK.

After the case, a spokesperson for SOCU’s Stolen Vehicle Squad, said: “Caravan theft is organised crime and brings misery to its victims.

“This conviction coin-cides with a marked reduction in caravan theft across Lancashire which was targeted in 2007.”

After they arrested Smith and George, police said they believed £1million worth of caravans – 100 vehicles – had been stolen in Lancashire over the past year.

Smith and George will be sentenced at Preston Crown Court in the New Year.