A Car dealer from Basildon who stole 13 classic Minis has been jailed for three years. Sam Metten, 28, of Polsteads, was found guilty of conspiracy to steal motor vehicles after a week-long trial.
An investigation into the theft of classic Minis from across the south-east led officers from the Metropolitan Police's organised vehicle crime unit to investigate the activities of Metten and another man, Stephen Fiddimore.
The pair advertised classic Mini car and spares on eBay and traded from a lock-up garage in Kent.
On Tuesday, April 28, 2015, officers carried out search warrants at Metten's home in Polsteads, as well as five addresses in Kent. The searches discovered property which linked the defendants to a number of stolen vehicles.
Two vehicles seized from the defendants' home addresses were found to be stolen and cloned.
Metten and Fiddimore were able to use their specialist knowledge of classic Minis to gain entry to the vehicles, start them and drive them away.
Detectives believe they may have been responsible for more than 40 vehicle thefts in Essex, Kent and London between August 2014 and May 2015.
Fiddimore, 36, of Shearwater, Longfield, Kent, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal motor vehicles and was jailed for three-and-a-half years.
