Truck thieves behind bars
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• by Ian Wylie The Metropolitan Police expect truck crime in East London and Essex to fall by at least 20% following the conviction of four major truck thieves.
Michael Johnson from Swanley, Kent; Joseph Carrington from Romford, Essex; Mark Pomroy of Biggin Hill, Kent; and Johnny Beaney from Eltham, south-east London were jailed for a total of almost nine years for their part in stealing truck equipment and machinery worth thousands of pounds.
Croydon Crown Court heard that Johnson and Carrington were arrested last March after officers from the Metropolitan Police Stolen Vehicle Unit found the remains of five stolen trucks, bulk carrier bodies and a number of gas bottles for cutting equipment at Maggot Farm in Sidcup.
Police subsequently estimated the value of the stolen goods on the premises to be around £220,000.
In April a surveillance team which tracked Johnson and Carrington after they were bailed watched the pair as they linked up with Pomroy and Beaney to receive a stolen artic carrying plant valued at around £110,000. Johnson would have been hard to miss as he is 6ft 8in tall and weighs 29 stone. DCI David Douglas of the Stolen Vehicle Unit says: "Johnson and central figures Carrington were in the organisation of lorry theft in East London and Essex and we believe that their convictions will cut lorry crime in these areas by at least 20%."
Hearings into confiscation and compensation of assets are expected to take place within the next couple of months.