Two men who stole cars from outside houses in Folkestone and Romney Marsh have been jailed for a total of eight years after police found phone footage of them using the stolen vehicles.
Harrison Walker and Jayden Jones-McGilvray were among three men who stole nine vehicles in the area in September 2020, before being traced to a holiday park and arrested by Kent Police.
After guilty pleas at earlier hearings, Jones-McGilvray, formerly of Sheridan Road, Richmond, Surrey, was jailed for three years and 10 months for conspiracy to burgle and conspiracy to steal.
Walker, of Whatley Avenue, Wimbledon, south London, was jailed for four years and two months for the same charges, as well as additional charges of handling stolen goods and driving offences committed in January 2021.
Jayden Jones-McGilvray and Harrison Walker. Credit: Kent Police
An investigation by Kent Police’s Chief Constable’s Crime Squad linked Walker, Jones-McGilvray and another man, George Paton, to a series of burglaries in the same area:
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A Peugeot van and BMW were taken after a house in Harbour Way, Folkestone was burgled overnight on the 8th of September 2020, with a Mini stolen from Althelstan Road in a similar fashion the following night.
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On the night of the 10th of September, a home owner disturbed intruders at a property in Hythe, before a Daihatsu was stolen following a separate break-in in Thanet Gardens, Folkestone.
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On the night of the 25th of September, a Nissan was stolen from outside a property in Marine Avenue, Dymchurch and an Audi was stolen from Lake Drive, Hythe. Both thefts came after the owner’s houses were burgled.
The Ford van from the final burglary was found in Camber and a Kent Police officer who attended to make enquiries obtained CCTV showing three men in the van.
Further enquiries led to CCTV footage being found showing the men entering a nearby holiday park. Officers obtained the men’s room number and the trio were arrested.
Analysis of their phones uncovered videos of them in the stolen cars following the thefts, which they had posted on social media, leading to them being charged on the 29th of September.
On the 31st of January this year, officers in Folkestone attempted to stop a Skoda which was driven in a suspicious manner in Gloucester Place.
The car then reversed at an unmarked police vehicle, which had to swerve to avoid it. The occupants of the Skoda, which it later emerged had been stolen from south-west London, tried to run away, but the driver, Harrison Walker, was arrested.
He was charged with further offences of handling stolen goods, dangerous driving and other driving offences on 1 February this year.
These offenders were unrelenting in the number of homes they targeted and the number of vehicles they stole, each of which would have impacted the owners’ day-to-day lives.
Detective Constable Kirsty Gee, of Kent Police’s Chief Constable’s Crime Squad
Detective Constable Kirsty Gee, of Kent Police’s Chief Constable’s Crime Squad, said: “Officers understand the often long-term impact of burglaries on people’s lives, and are determined to investigate fully to bring those responsible before the courts.”
“I am pleased this thorough investigation has seen these two men jailed and they will now be unable to cause further problems for the people of east Kent.”
Walker and Jones-McGilvray were sentenced on the 23rd of September 2021. George Paton, 20, will be sentenced at a later date.
https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2021-09-28/car-thieves-who-filmed-themselves-using-stolen-vehicles-jailed
