Three men from Milton Keynes have been sent to prison after Thames Valley Police officers uncovered a national car ringing operation.

All three men pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Fraud and were sentenced at Huntingdon Crown Court on Tuesday (22/9).

Dominic Hall, aged 18, formerly of Holton Hill, Emerson Valley, was sentenced to three years in prison. Michael Patrick Cawley, aged 29, from Goddards Close, Wolverton, was sentenced to two and a half years. Sean Billington, formerly of Bransgill Court, Heelands, was sentenced to 12 months in prison.

Melissa Gale, aged 29, from Bransgill Court, Heelands, also pleaded guilty to the same offence and was given 200 hours community service.

The investigation relates to 12 offences committed in various parts of the country involving high value Volkswagen Golfs and Passats. In most cases the keys to the cars were stolen during house burglaries and then the cars themselves were taken. 

The stolen cars were professionally cloned and advertised via Autotrader and fraudulent V5 registration documents were used to support the transactions.

Det Chf Insp Justin Fletcher, Crime Manager for Thames Valley Police in Milton Keynes, said: “There has been some excellent work between various teams within Thames Valley Police and other Force’s to ensure these offenders were brought to justice. A large amount of analytical work went into this job and I would like to personally thank the work of our crime analysts in Milton Keynes and the officer in charge of the overall investigation Det Con Dave Phipps.

“There is no doubt that the activity involved in this operation and others connected to it have prevented many more house burglaries and car thefts taking place in the Milton Keynes area.”