Used engine dealers are charged with conspiracy
Page 8
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Two men who ran a company dealing in used truck engines have gone on trial at Maidstone Crown Court for conspiracy to handle stolen goods.
Mark Heywood, prosecuting, said that Paul Kiley, one of the directors of Woodford Greenbased Parts Master, was photographed by police at a caravan park in Cmyford, Kent, collecting parts from a lorry that had been stolen 36 hours earlier in Basildon.
He alleged that Kiley and his co-director, Daniel Farman, were responsible for receiving high-value parts from commercial vehicles.
Engines and wheels in particular were offered for sale in the course of their business at Hale End Road, Woodford Green, said Haywood.
"Seven engines and various parts passed through their hands," he told the court. "In a number of instances the precise source of the parts can be demonstrated as well. They were closely involved with the thieves. In particular, they were connected to an organised and professional gang of lorry thieves—people who can be identified.
"The thieves' method was to steal a commercial vehicle, leave it a short time to ensure it was not followed or tracked and then it would be cut up," said Heywood. "These vehicles were completely dismantled from the top of the cab to the wheels. The valuable items such as engines and wheels were salvaged and found their way to the hands of Parts Master." He said the whole process of taking the lorry and cutting it up could take as little as 36 hours.
Parman, of Bancroft Avenue, Buckhurst Hill, and Kiley, of Hollywood Road, Woodford Green, deny conspiracy to handle stolen goods between January 1996 and January 1997.
The trial continues,