Two car thieves stole 59 Fiestas in five months
TWO brazen car thieves who stole 59 Ford Fiestas over five months have been jailed.
Kaine Guest-Scott, 22, and Theon Lynch, 21, targeted train stations and park and rides to take commuters’ cars while they were at work and later stripped them to sell parts.
They used electronic devices to open the Fiestas, all registered between 2012 and 2017, without triggering the alarms. The thieves then broke steering locks with angle grinders and reprogrammed blank keys they had brought with them before driving away.
The pair, who carried out their crimes across the West Midlands, became so expert at stealing the cars that they were captured by CCTV taking one in just 90 seconds.
Between June and November last year when they were arrested, they stole 59 Ford Fiestas worth £366,000.
When police raided their homes, they recovered clothing that matched what the pair were wearing in CCTV video. Phones were also seized and analysis placed Lynch at the car parks and a shop where a stolen bank card was used.
Transmitter devices, blank Ford keys and auto locksmith tools, including a turbo decoder to defeat car door locks and reprogramming equipment, were also found.
Appearing at Birmingham Crown Court, the West Midlands pair admitted conspiracy to commit theft of motor vehicles covering 59 thefts, theft of a bank card and fraud. Guest-Scott, of Coseley, was jailed for four years on Friday and Lynch, of West Bromwich, for three years and one month.
Sergeant Mitch Darby, from the Vehicle Crime Taskforce, said: ‘Two prolific car thieves have been brought to justice and prevented from stealing any more cars.’
The Fiesta is Britain’s most owned car and also its most stolen. A total of 5,979 were reported stolen in 2022, according to DVLA figures obtained by the website This is Money.
There are around 1.5million Fiestas on the road and experts say they could be at greater risk of theft after Ford announced it will stop making them this year. This would lead to a rise in the cost of parts.
WATCH THEM STEAL A CAR IN JUST 90 SECONDS ON MAIL+