£100k car stolen to ‘get back at ex employers’

THEFT OF BMW

‘HAPHAZARD AMATEURISH’

A THIEF helped himself to a luxury car worth £100,435 to settle a score with his ex-employers.

Daniel Measom had inside knowledge and access to the vehicle delivery firm’s premises in London Road, Coalville.

He and two accomplices entered the compound of Commercial Vehicle Movements Ltd to steal a key fob, trade number plates and high-value silver-coloured BMW M5.

The 42-year-old felt aggrieved about perceived mistreatment during the six or seven weeks he worked there as a driver delivering luxury cars across the country, Leicester Crown Court was told.

Measom parked the stolen BMW outside a former girlfriend’s address in Moore Road, Barwell, where it “stood out like a sore thumb” and a suspicious neighbour alerted the police.

The defendant admitted burgling the compound and theft on May 25, 2019.

He also admitted £1,559 worth of fraudulent misuse of the company’s fuel card, that he failed to hand in after abruptly leaving his job.

Measom, who lived with his grandmother in Syston at the time of the offending, went on the run until he was arrested a year later, in Loughborough.

The police spoke to him on the phone when they located the BMW, the day after it was stolen, and he promised to hand himself in, but did not.

Measom’s advocate, Steven Newcombe, said: “He says his motivation for removing the car was to strike back at his employers who he thought treated him unfairly.

“What upset him was that having turned up for work on two occasions (after a 12-mile journey at 4am) he was told there was no employment that day and to go home.

“He also had time off because his grandma was ill and it didn’t go down well at work.”

Mr Newcombe said Measom was not stealing to order and planned disposing of the car in parts.

But when he found out how valuable it was, he realised the parts would be easily identifiable and he left it where it was to be discovered.

Leanne Summers, prosecuting, said the BMW was collected from Romford and arrived at the Coalville compound at 7.10pm, before onward delivery the next day.

CCTV captured three men, including the defendant, taking it.

When found, the BMW had damaged alloy wheels and the £5,000 locking system had to be replaced.

The court heard that Measom, who later moved to Cawell Road, Cromer, Norfolk, had 66 offences on his record, including burglary, a robbery and motoring matters, with the most recent conviction being class A drug possession in 2018.

Mr Newcombe said: “It was an absolutely stupid thing to do and he realised the next day there was little he could do with this vehicle.”

Sentencing, Recorder Martin Butterworth said: “This was a haphazard, amateurish theft of a high-value vehicle.

“It was done to wreak retribution and line your own pockets. Due to ineptitude you found yourself with a car you could do nothing with.”

Measom was jailed for 22 months.