Three Coventry men jailed after caravan theft crime spree

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(From left) Lennon McMahon, Liam McMahon, Curtis BestonImage source, Cheshire Constabulary
Image caption,
As well as stealing caravans and motor vehicles, the men caused damage at many of the sites, police said

Three Coventry men are in jail after 17 caravans and five motor vehicles were stolen in England and Wales.

Sites targeted were predominantly in Cheshire, there were about 40 victims and money lost between them was about £360,000, police said.

Curtis Beston, 25, was jailed for four-and-a-half years.

Lennon McMahon, 19, and Liam McMahon, 18, were ordered to serve four years and three-and-a-half years respectively at a young offenders' institution.

The men, both of Southam Close, and Beston, of The Chantries, all pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to steal a motor vehicle and were sentenced at Chester Crown Court.

As well as stealing caravans and motor vehicles, they caused criminal damage at many of the sites they targeted, police said.

Det Con Paul Matchett, who led Cheshire Constabulary's investigation, said Beston and the brothers had used stolen vehicles or vehicles with no registered keeper to steal caravans from storage sites, including some in north Wales.

The trio were arrested in Wrexham Road, near Whitchurch, early on 20 May. The Ford Transit van they were travelling in was pulled over as it looked like one that had been involved in the theft of caravans.

Analysis of their mobile phones, automatic number plate recognition and CCTV footage revealed they had been involved in a crime spree since 9 April, regularly travelling from their homes in Coventry late at night.

The sites the trio targeted were predominantly in Cheshire:

  • Croughton, Coddington and Capenhurst, which are all near Chester
  • Oakmere, near Northwich
  • Wettenhall, near Winsford
  • Byley, between Middlewich and Northwich,
  • Warmingham, near Crewe

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