Detectives solve car theft conspiracy involving 70 stolen vehicles

“Essex Police have been wonderful and have kept me updated through the whole process.
“They have done a great job in finding the people responsible.”

Those are the words of Katie Evans, from Brentwood, who was one of dozens of victims impacted by a series of car thefts carried out across the South East of England last year.

Her car, a Ford Kuga, was stolen from her driveway in July 2024.

Those responsible didn’t even need to take the keys to the vehicle to facilitate their crime.

They left behind no evidence and seemingly vanished without a trace.

But this offence was soon identified as just one in a series of similar keyless car thefts being perpetrated across Essex, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and London.

In April last year, our Serious Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) adopted an investigation after establishing more than 70 of these thefts were linked to the activity of a group of organised criminals.

Their activity involved the theft of vehicles worth a combined total of more than £1,300,000.

Thanks to the work of the SOCU teams, intelligence officers and vehicle examiners, Connor Jones, 26, and Jack Reid, 22, were identified as two primary suspects.

Their tactic was to use ‘relay’ devices near to the homes of their victims, which allowed them to capture and replicate the signal of car keys.

This allowed quick and simple access to vehicles parked on driveways, which were often then taken on to a lockup in Waltham Abbey to be stripped for parts.

Many of the vehicles, including Katie’s, were later forensically recovered following enquiries by officers.

But the impact of this offending remained readily apparent.

Katie said:

“When this incident happened it really had an impact on my mental health, as I have suffered for years with anxiety.
“I felt scared at the thought of someone being outside my home watching until my children and I went to sleep to take our family car.
“My children were also very scared, worrying whether they would break into our home next.
“At every little noise I heard I thought someone was coming back to break in to the house.”

Linking a keyless car theft series

SOCU’s investigation began after a keen-eyed local policing officer linked a series of thefts to a single burglary last year.

This allowed the team to gradually piece together the wider conspiracy.
On 18 April, a burglary took place in Hertford which involved the theft of car keys from inside a home.

The car, a Cupra Formentor, was stolen from the driveway.

Reid and Jones then used this car as a getaway vehicle to facilitate a further 38 vehicle thefts, until August, when the Cupra was found by officers abandoned in Waltham Abbey.

After the recovery of this vehicle, there was a lull in offending for around two weeks.

The investigative team took this to be because Reid and Jones were attempting to source a replacement vehicle to facilitate further thefts.

By mid-August last year, the Cupra had been replaced with a Volkswagen Golf, which was stolen from outside an address in Edmonton.

Reid and Jones went on to use the Golf to facilitate frequent vehicle thefts across Essex, including in Brentwood, Epping, Basildon and Sudbury.

On 7 October last year, the Golf was present at four separate incidents, before our officers struck.

At 1.20am that night, a Ford Puma was stolen from outside a property in Brentwood.

It was captured leaving the area on false plates, in convoy with the Golf, and was later found and recovered by officers in Stock.

At around 2.45am, a Ford Fiesta was stolen from a property in Pilgrims Hatch, Brentwood.

Documents relating to this vehicle were later found nearby by officers, while the car itself was later found and recovered in Romford.

While recovering this stolen vehicle, officers found a number of registration plates dumped in a nearby hedge.

Amongst them were plates previously used on the Cupra and Golf getaway vehicles.

At around 3.45am, another Ford Fiesta was stolen from outside a home in Epping, with the Golf again witnessed leaving the area in convoy.

Less than an hour later, at around 4.20am, a Ford Kuga was stolen from outside a second address in Epping, once more alongside the Golf getaway vehicle.

The Kuga was later found and recovered from Kelvedon Hatch.
By 5.05am, the Golf was traced by officers returning to the lockup at Waltham Abbey.

Armed officers surrounded the building, arresting both Reid and Jones.

A search of the lockup uncovered a stolen Ford Fiesta which was in the process of being stripped down for parts.

A variety of number plates, vehicle keys, universal keys, balaclavas and transmitters were uncovered.

At the site, but parked outside the garage, were a further four vehicles which were soon confirmed to be stolen.

Charged and jailed

Thanks to the ongoing work of the investigative team around evidence gathering, Reid and Jones were irrefutably linked to each offence.

They were charged with and later admitted conspiring to commit burglary and conspiring to steal motor vehicles.

Appearing at Chelmsford Crown Court on Tuesday 4 March, Reid was jailed for three years and nine months, while Jones was sentenced to four years and 11 months imprisonment.

The work of teams across Essex Police led to a fall in vehicle crime across the past year.

In the 12 months to January 2025, we recorded a 5% decrease in the number of incidents of theft of a motor vehicle, solving 78 more cases than we did the previous year.

Recorded incidents of burglary also fell by 17% across the same period – meaning there were 1,260 fewer burglaries in Essex year-on-year.

'We're contuing our work on large-scale operations like this'

Detective Chief Inspector Justin Beacher said:

“This was serious, organised offending aimed at stealing and dismantling cars on an industrial scale.
“We are committed to tackling burglary and vehicle theft as we’re well aware this is one of the issues that matter most to our communities.
“We’re more effective than ever at identifying how these thieves operate. We have teams like SOCU dedicated to working on large-scale operations just like this case, to disrupt the activity of organised criminals.
“We know the devastating impact that having your car, your van or your motorbike stolen can have, that’s why it’s a force priority and we’re committed to bringing it to a halt.
“We’re seeing the figures move in the right direction, but vehicle theft is still of course a huge issue in Essex, we are not blind to that.
“As this case proves, criminals are becoming more sophisticated in how they operate, so taking what steps you can by way of prevention is absolutely key.”

For advice on how to stay safe and protect your home, yourself, your business and your vehicles from crime, please visit our crime prevention pages.

You can also find out more general information about crime, the law and staying safe on our advice and information pages.