Pair admit to taking Jaguar without consent

TWO men tried to claim the owner of a “beloved” Jaguar found dumped with burned paper inside had let them go for a spin.

Stephen John Blackhurst, 29, of Sutton Way, Ellesmere Port, and Ben Johnson, 32, of Bechers, Hough Green, Widnes, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court last Thursday having pleaded guilty on the day of trial on August 24 to taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent (TWOC).

Tom Clarke, prosecuting, recounted how their victim Wesley Watts had left the car parked outside the Jaguar Landrover Sports and Social Club on Cronton Lane where he went for a couple of drinks with friends upstairs on October 12.

At one point he headed downstairs to the toilet and as he was heading back up, the two defendants came down “either side” of him.

Mr Clarke said: “As he walked between them, there was a coming together, a bump, causing Mr Watts to fall to one knee.

“He didn’t think anything of it at the time.

“He thinks it was at that point the key in his jacket was taken.”

About 40 minutes later he realised the keys and the car were gone so he reported it missing.

Police found it dumped threeand-a-half miles away in Rainhill with pages of burned newspaper strewn about in various sections of footwell.

There was no damage to the exterior but Mr Clarke said the charred paper showed an attempt to burn the car out.

CCTV covered the car park and officers arrested Blackhurst and Johnson.

They later pleaded not guilty to theft, but guilty to TWOC.

Blackhurst also admitted driving while disqualified and without insurance.

His previous convictions included burglary, failing to comply, TWOC-ing a vehicle, aggravated vehicle taking, drug driving and failing to provide a specimen.

Johnson’s priors included grievous bodily harm (GBH) for which he was sentenced to four-and-ahalf years in prison, assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH) resulting in a two-year prison sentence in 2016.

Paul Wood, defending Johnson, conceded his client was “lucky” not to be “facing more serious charges” and his “history doesn’t help him”, but is a changed man and has been in work for over three months.

Mr Wood said Johnson has achieved “progress” in his life, securing accommodation having lived in a hostel and suffering “serious

issues with drugs and alcohol” at the time of taking the Jaguar, which he said Johnson had now put behind him on his “own volition”.

In addition, Johnson is in a stable relationship with his partner of four months.

Simon Christie, representing Blackhurst, said it was “perplexing” how his client had gone down the route of criminality, and “appears to have turned all aspects of his life around”, finding accommodation, a job, a role caring for others and his education – all under his own steam in the last 11 months.

Judge David Aubrey, QC, presiding, sentenced Blackhurst to six months in prison, suspended for 18 months with a two-year driving ban, £200 to pay in costs and a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement (RAR), and Johnson to four months in prison, suspended for 18 months, plus £200 in costs, a 25-day RAR and nine-month road ban.

He rubbished their excuse for taking the car as “nonsense”.

Passing sentence, he said: “Your defence statement asserted that the poor victim in this case with his beloved Jaguar had given permission to both of you to drive his car.

“As I said on a previous occasion, what a load of nonsense. Fortunately both of you came to your senses.”

Court papers said the car was a Jaguar XE R-Sport.