Two ‘ chop shop’gang members sent to jail
Four luxury motors were smuggled to workshop
Two car gang members who were part of a criminal racket involving stolen motors being stripped bare for parts are locked up.
Dodgy garage owner Ross Macquarrie, 30, of Mauchline, was sentenced to 20 months in prison last week.
Four stolen high- end vehicles worth about £ 146,000 were smuggled to his workshop at historic Barskimming Mill outside the village.
Accomplice Christopher Sim, 25, of Wishaw, who delivered the nicked cars was jailed for 15 months.
A brand new high powered Ford Focus, two Audi S3s and an Audi RS4 were smuggled to Macquarrie’s workshop after being stolen from Edinburgh and Cambuslang.
The enterprise involved vehicles being broken down for parts, which were resold.
On sentencing the pair sheriff Desmond Leslie said: “Since you first came to court you tendered pleas of guilty. It was your expectation a custodial sentence would be the eventual outcome of these proceedings.”
The sheriff told Macquarrie: “It is clear Mr Macquarrie that you played an integral part in this operation. Whether you were the main mover is a matter of some doubt.”
He said Macquarrie owned the yard which showed he “played a significant role in this operation.”
Turning to labourer Sim for sentencing, the sheriff said: “You had a lesser engagement. Nonetheless you were relied on in this operation and were significant in that you were the one responsible for delivering the vehicle to the address.”
The pair both turned up to Ayr Sheriff Court last week carrying bags anticipating spending the night in prison. A band of supporters accompanied them to court and saw them being led away in handcuffs.
The lid was blown on the chop shop when a GPS stolen vehicle tracking device on the Audi RS4 traced it to Macquarrie’s property.
At an earlier court date Macquarrie and Sim both pled guilty to the reset of four motors that were dishonestly appropriated by theft over the course of a week in April 2016.
Macquarrie, of Lugardale House, Barskimming, Mauchline, owned the property housing the garage and the equipment and tools inside. But his lawyer Steven Maxwell argued he wasn’t a main player.