A gang who stole more than £215k worth of keyless cars have been jailed.
Between June and August 2023, the group burgled multiple homes, assaulted one of their victims, and stole vehicles across south-west London and Surrey.
Police said the crooks would scope out a target vehicle and then either break into homes to steal the keys or use illegal devices to carry out a keyless car theft.
They caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to homes during their thefts – and on one occasion, three of them seriously assaulted a homeowner.
Afterwards, some cars would end up in ‘chop shops’ to be sold for parts – while others were fitted with fake number plates.
The men were caught on tape fitting false number plates (Image: SWNS) Surrey Police arrested the criminals after linking a distinctive Audi A8 to a series of burglaries.
Officers then identified cars with cloned number plates, tracked vehicles through ANPR (automatic number plate recognition), and matched suspects to CCTV footage.
One key giveaway was that, when committing a shop burglary, the crime gang often brought a large white carrier bag to carry the stolen goods.
This bag enabled officers to link the suspects to multiple offences.
Rico Persechino, 35, and Harry Mackay, 34, were arrested outside a shop in East Grinstead on August 29.
Mackay tried to flee but he was swiftly caught by officers.
Frankie Mackay, 35, Stevey Mackay, 32, and Jason Connors, 29, were all arrested at a later date.
They have now been jailed for a combined total of 27 and a half years.
Speaking about the effects of the group’s crimes, one victim said: “The burglary was very distressing for both my partner and myself.
“We felt a significant impact after the unwelcome intrusion from these criminals.
“I was very angry and upset and when I met with detectives the following day, I was close to tears. That’s not in my nature.
“The thought of strangers going through your personal possessions, and the damage they caused to gain access to my property was scary.
“My partner lost family jewellery that had been passed down through generations.
“After the robbery I said I wanted to move, and I still might as this has had a long-term effect on me.
“I’m pleased to see the sentence this group were handed, and I was very impressed with the brilliant work of the police officers and detectives dealing with this case.
“They gave me faith throughout.”
Harry Mackay, from Epsom, and Persechino, from Kingston-Upon-Thames, both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal motor vehicles, conspiracy to burgle, and conspiracy to commit robbery.
They were jailed for eight years and seven and a half years respectively.
Frankie Mackay, from Epsom and Steve Mackay, from Kingston-Upon-Thames pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal motor vehicles.
They were both sentenced to 39 months.
Connors, from Croydon, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery and was jailed for five years and four months.
After sentencing, lead investigator DI Daniel Voller, said: “This was a sophisticated and organised operation and exposing the full extent of their crimes was only possible thanks to the hard work and diligence of everyone involved, from detectives to intelligence teams.
“These thieves had no regard for anyone but themselves and escalated their offending from stealing cars outside homes to breaking inside and committing a serious assault.
“We have worked relentlessly over many months to prepare a strong case against them and I’m pleased our efforts have resulted in getting them behind bars.”