A man who was caught with a garage full of stolen car parts got himself into more trouble by coming out with a string of lies to try and get the goods back.
Engines, doors, bonnets and other bits from six different stolen cars were discovered during a series of police raids at properties with links to Thomas Timson.
The parts were taken from four Ford Fiestas and two Land Rovers – all of which had been reported stolen from Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire between 2018 and 2022 – before making their way into Timson’s possession.
An investigation was subsequently launched against the 36-year-old, who made things worse for himself while this was taking place by repeatedly lying to try and discredit the case and get the seized car parts returned to him.
A lockup in Walesby, near Ollerton, was the first property to be raided in August 2021, when officers followed up intelligence suggesting stolen vehicles were being taken there to be broken down into parts and sold.
The Newark and Sherwood Operation Reacher team found three engines during the warrant, with the officers then carrying out four more warrants in November 2021 at properties in Boughton, Kirton and Walesby that led to more parts being recovered.
A Ford Fiesta axle and other vehicle parts were also later recovered from another two properties in the Bevercotes and Walesby area in January 2022 – both of which had links to Timson.
With evidence mounting against him, Timson took it upon himself to do whatever he could to try and obstruct the investigation and to get the car parts back, by telling a series of lies.
As part of this, he repeatedly called a company used by the force to store seized items and pretended he’d been given permission by the police to come and collect the car parts.
When this failed, Timson contacted the Nottinghamshire Police control room and made up a series of lies about the officers investigating his case to try and obstruct their investigation into his criminal activity.
Having vehemently denied doing anything wrong throughout the investigation, Timson, of HMP Five Wells, Wellingborough, changed his plea on the day his trial was due to begin at Nottingham Crown Court on Monday (4 September).
He would go on to plead guilty to two counts of handling stolen goods and for perverting the course of justice and was sentenced that same day to 16 months in prison.
PC Poppy Macky, of Nottinghamshire Police’s Newark and Sherwood Operation Reacher team, said: “As the judge rightly said during their summary, Timson is a manipulative man whose dishonesty has shined through throughout this entire process.
“Despite our officers raiding several properties with links to him and finding a multitude of different car parts belonging to vehicles that had been reported stolen, he consistently denied doing anything wrong and kept obstructing our investigation.
“As part of this, he told a range of lies to try and get the stolen items returned to him and also made attempts to get investigating officers thrown off the case – all of which ultimately failed.
“After he chose the last available moment to drop this act and to own up to what he’d done, we’re pleased to see that Timson has now been punished for his actions and has received a custodial sentence.”
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