Jail for man who knowingly kept stolen vehicles

A man has been jailed after he was caught with two cars and a motorbike in his possession that he knew had been stolen.

One of the cars was discovered severely damaged in Kirkby-in-Ashfield on 26 April 2023 – having been crashed into a fence and abandoned a few moments earlier.

The Land Rover Evoque in question had piqued the interest of police shortly before the collision after it was flagged as having been reported stolen from an address in Bestwood days earlier on 22 April.

Officers attending the scene quickly located Adam Collins within metres of where the car had been ditched and arrested him so that further inquiries could be carried out about the stolen Land Rover.

This resulted in intelligence being gathered showing the car being driven in convoy with a Land Rover Discovery that same day – hours after that vehicle had also been reported as stolen from a driveway in Ravenshead.

Following this, a search was carried out of a house with links to Collins in the Sutton-in-Ashfield area, which resulted in the other car being found parked on the driveway, with one of its side windows smashed through.

Police also carried out a search of the 39-year-old’s home address, which led to a motorbike being recovered from inside that had itself been reported stolen from the Wilford area on 23 January 2023.

Collins would go on to be charged with three counts of receiving stolen goods – something he admitted to in court.

He also pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified after admitting he drove the Land Rover Discovery on the day it was taken, although he denied taking it or any of the other stolen vehicles.

Collins, of Adderley Close, Bestwood, appeared at Nottingham Crown Court on Wednesday (4 October), where he was sentenced to one year and seven months in prison.

Detective Constable Millie Gillett, of Nottinghamshire Police, said:

“Collins was fully aware that each of the three vehicles in his possession had been stolen from someone else and as such didn’t truly belong to him, but he made no attempts to report this to the police.

“The real owners of these vehicles were understandably very distressed to have been targeted by thieves in this manner, so we were delighted to be able to retrieve each of the stolen vehicles and return them to the victims.

“Some great police work took place to make this possible, from the officers who located Collins close to where one of the cars was abandoned, to the detectives who analysed the intelligence available to spot the other stolen Land Rover.

“As Collins is now finding to his cost, knowingly receiving stolen goods is a very serious offence that can lead to prison time, so we’re very pleased with this result.”