Gang who stole high-value cars in Yorkshire and ran 'chop shops' jailed - after man was dragged behind his van when he tried to stop them

The investigation into the group’s activities began after a van owner was left seriously injured after being dragged behind his Mercedes Sprinter as he tried to prevent it being stolen.

Over £1million of ‘high-value’ keyless cars, trade vans and power tools were taken from Leeds, Wakefield and Kirklees – with many of the vehicles stripped down for their parts in three ‘chop shops’ run by the gang in Leeds and Dewsbury.

The men scanned the signal from the owners’ key fobs and then used on-board diagnostics tools to start the cars.

One of the thieves, Mark Smith, drove over the victim after he became trapped under the front wheel of his van on a street in Stanley, Wakefield, in August 2022. The man was dragged 800 metres along the road before he became free and the Sprinter was driven towards the M62.

This robbery was then linked to a chop shop in Armley by West Yorkshire Police and the investigation began three months later, when a Range Rover was taken from a car park in Hunslet, Leeds. It was traced to another car park in Rothwell, where three of the gang were arrested while trying to leave in a second Range Rover.

Detective Chief Inspector Scott Hartley said: “This was an organised crime group who profited from other people’s misery by targeting high value vehicles and trade vans containing tools. This was a sophisticated enterprise worth an estimated £1million.

“In one incident, significant violence was used when the victim has made attempts to stop their vehicle being stolen, showing the willingness and lengths this group would go to carry out these thefts. His life has been devastated socially, financially, and physically by the actions of this group.“The fact is that organised crime ruins lives and we are committed to disrupting and dismantling those involved in organised criminality.”

The men who were first arrested in Rothwell had keys to two industrial units in Armley and Dewsbury where disassembled parts of Range Rovers and Mercedes Sprinter vans were discovered. They were found to belong to vehicles which had been stolen between September and November 2022.

Leeds Crown Court was told that Andrew Oldroyd was head of the conspiracy, assisted throughout by Sam Oliver. Together they identified vehicles of a particular profile and planned and arranged the thefts. They recruited others to their criminal enterprise to help carry out the actual thefts and to dismantle the vehicles.

Jason Hester and the only woman to be sentenced, Julie Hainsworth, were linked to the violent robbery in Stanley, with Tester driving the other getaway vehicle.

The nine sentenced at Leeds Crown Court were:-

• Mark Smith, 40, of Tong Way, Leeds, who was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment after being found guilty of one count of robbery and sentenced to a further three years imprisonment for conspiracy to steal motor vehicles, bringing his total to 15 years.

• Andrew Oldroyd, 49, of Wood Lane, Rothwell, who admitted two counts of conspiracy to steal motor vehicles and one count of handling stolen goods and was sentenced to a total of seven and a half years imprisonment.

• Sam Oliver, 34, of Fifth Avenue, Rothwell, who admitted two counts of conspiracy to steal motor vehicles and was sentenced to a total of six years and three months imprisonment.

• Adrian Stewart, 35, of Meynell Approach, Leeds, who admitted one count of conspiracy to steal motor vehicles and one count of handling stolen goods and was sentenced to a total of two years and four months imprisonment.

• Jason Tester, 51, of Cottingley Road, Leeds, who was found guilty one count of conspiracy to steal motor vehicles and was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment.

• Peter Hoyle, 38, of Aberford Road, Woodlesford, who admitted one count of conspiracy to steal motor vehicles and was sentenced to 11 months imprisonment.

• Edgar Uzulins, 34, of Baileys Crescent, Leeds, who admitted one count of handling stolen goods and was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment suspended for two years.

• Julie Hainsworth, 48, of Stratford Avenue, Beeston, who was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to steal motor vehicles and was sentenced to nine months imprisonment, suspended for two years.

• James Hemingway, 50, of Wood Drive, Rothwell, who was sentenced to two months imprisonment after admitted one count of perverting the course of justice.