Two men who carried out keyless car thefts around Kent have been jailed for a total of five years after an investigation by detectives from the Kent Crime Squad into a series of similar thefts of high-value vehicles earlier this year.
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Between 24 March and 15 April, seven Mercedes and a BMW were stolen from outside their owners’ home in Folkestone, Maidstone, Tonbridge and Gravesend in Kent, and Welwyn, Hertfordshire and Hockley, Essex.
Work by detectives at the scenes linked two other vehicles to the thefts and one was spotted and stopped on a slip-road off the M25 in Essex on the evening of 19 April.
Nikas Biliakevicius was arrested and further work led to another man, Andrius Petrauskas, also being linked to the thefts. He was arrested in Eltham, south-east London the following morning.
Petrauskas, 44, from Eltham, and Biliakevicius, 26, from Hull, were later charged with conspiring to steal motor vehicles.
Both men later admitted that charge and, at Canterbury Crown Court on 31 October, Petrauskas was jailed for three years and two months and Biliakevicius was given a one-year, 10-month sentence.
PC Michael Eeles, Kent Police’s investigating officer, said:
‘These two men were clearly organised and committed vehicle thieves, stealing eight vehicles in just weeks.
‘I am pleased our investigation saw them quickly arrested and they have now been jailed, protecting other vehicle owners in Kent and elsewhere from further offences.’
Find advice on how to keep your car safe from the crime prevention page on our website.