Thieves who targeted Range Rovers worth almost £1 million are jailed for over 14 years

Michael Andrews and Jonathan Langley

Five members of a gang responsible for stealing high-value Range Rovers across Trafford, Rochdale and Cheshire have been jailed for a total of 14 years and one month at Manchester Crown Court on Friday 14 October.

Three men from Rochdale, one man from Longsight and one man from Royton pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal the high-value vehicles.

Michael Andrews, 33, of Rochdale, received three years nine months imprisonment, as did Faisal Hussain, 29, of Royton.

Nazish Shakeel, 30, of Longsight was locked up for three years seven months and Jonathan Langley, 28, of Rochdale, received three years.

Shaun Andrews, 28, of Rochdale, was sentenced to 19 months in prison, suspended for 18 months.

All five pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal the high-value vehicles, and all defendants, except for Shaun Andrews, who also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal.

The thefts, which occurred between 18 April and 12 May 2022, were part of an 11-car conspiracy that saw Range Rovers, Range Rover Sports and a Land Rover Sport taken, worth anywhere between £65,000 and over £100,000 each.

They were stolen from various locations, including supermarket car parks, town centres and private driveways across Alderley Edge, Altrincham, Hale, Hale Barns, Poynton, and Rochdale.

GMP ended the gang’s theft spree on 13 May 2022, when the force’s Tactical Vehicle Intercept Unit (TVIU) stopped the blue BMW they were travelling in. They were found to have used signal jammers, to interfere with key fob frequency, preventing owners from locking the doors to their vehicles properly, as well as a skeleton key.

One of the men was found to have £19,000 in cash at his home address, which has since been confiscated under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA).

Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Walton in Trafford said: “This is an excellent result for Trafford Neighbourhood Crime Team. Here at GMP, we are committed to bringing car thieves such as these to justice, ensuring they are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

“We would encourage anyone who has a high-value car to double-check the doors are physically locked before walking away from their car and when at home consider keeping their keys in the faraday bags.

“We can be contacted via the website gmp.police.uk, by dialling 101 or information can be passed anonymously via the independent charity – Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. In an emergency, always dial 999.”