Four Jailed fo r Lorry Thefts
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FOUR men alleged by Mr. George Shindler, prosecuting, to have turned an isolated plot of land in the Hertfordshire countryside into a "thieves' kitchen" and a graveyard for stolen lorries •were all sentenced to imprisonment at the Old Bailey last week.
Sentence of 27 months was passed on Arthur D. Knight, 39, of Hatfield; Robert H. Lewis, 27, labourer, of Hatfield, received 12 months; William A. Bradley, 26, labourer, of St. Albans, nine months; and John M. Jolly, 28, coalman, of Welwyn Garden City, six months.
All except Jolly were found guilty of conspiring to steal motor vehicles, and with Jolly guilty of conspiring to receive stolen vehicles.
Commissioner King Hamilton, Q.C., told them; "Such was the greed of all of you that you were prepared to take the risks." Mr. Shindler said Knight and a man called Joe Matthews, who had not been apprehended, were parters in the Hatfield Motor Co. Ltd., carrying on business in Hatfield. Knight, who sometimes went under the name of Joe Rogers, obtained the use of land known as "the brickfields" at Bricket Wood.
Ostensibly this was for the purpose of stripping old motor cars, but between March and October last year, 13 lorries, or parts of them, stolen from various London districts found their way there.
Lorries were broken up there by one or other of the accused, the parts being sold for whatever price they would fetch. In some cases engines were disposed of abroad. Unwanted parts were dumped.
Subsequently the owner of the property became suspicious and got in -touch with the police. Eventually, the accused were brought to trial.