Range Rover gang jailed for stealing motors from driveways

Prestige cars and SUVs worth hundreds of thousands were stolen while parked outside homes around Norwich over a four month period.

An electric Range Rover Velar worth £46,000 was among vehicles stolen (Image: PA) 

Among the vehicles taken was a high-performance Range Rover Sport worth £90,000 that its owner discovered had been stolen from his driveway in Hainford when he woke at 8am on July 16 last year.

On another occasion, an all-electric Range Rover Velar worth £46,000 was taken from a driveway in Thorpe St Andrew.

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Gang members were arrested after police tracked the vehicles to locations in Norwich. 
Jonathan Fearnley, 33, of Newbegin Road in Norwich, Stevie Quigg, 32, and Ben Valentine, 37, were jointly charged with multiple counts of theft of a motor vehicle.

Stevie Quigg was jailed for 21 months at Norwich Crown Court (Image: Norfolk Constabulary)

The charges relate to five occasions where vehicles were stolen from the Broadland area between April 16 and July 20 last year.

Other motors stolen included a £30,000 Land Rover and a Range Rover Evoque worth £13,500.

Meanwhile, a Mazda 3 high-powered hatchback worth £30,000 stolen in Bedfordshire was discovered in Norwich.

Appearing via video link from HMP Norwich, Quigg, of Martham Close in Bedford, was jailed for 21 months at Norwich Crown Court after previously pleading guilty to car theft and assaulting police when arrested. 

Ben Valentine was jailed for 12 months at Norwich Crown Court (Image: Norfolk Constabulary)

Valentine, from Stevenage in Hertfordshire, was sentenced to 12 months for stealing four vehicles. 

An arrest warrant was issued for Fearnley after he failed to appear in court to be sentenced.

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Judge Anthony Bate said thefts had been planned and on one occasion keys to the vehicle had been stolen from inside a house. 

Oliver Haswell, representing Quigg, said the operation had not been “overly sophisticated”.

A Mazda 3 worth £30,000 was stolen during the four month theft spree (Image: PA)

The vehicles all had trackers and were recovered and no attempt had been made to tamper with the electronics to hide their locations, he said.

“This was amateur hour at best which is probably why they were caught,” he added.

Andrew Oliver, for Valentine, said: “These offences took place after he had split from his partner and was for a time homeless. 

“He bought the Mazda intending to sleep in it then moved in with Quigg when further thefts took place.”