This is the moment two car thieves managed to steal a Ford Fiesta in just 90 seconds – part of a five-month crime spree in which they stole 59 vehicles worth over $366 £000 through the Midlands.
Kaine Guest-Scott, 22, and Theon Lynch, 21, who targeted vehicles in train stations and parking lots in broad daylight, were both jailed.
At Birmingham Crown Court, Guest-Scott, of Cosely, was sentenced to four years in prison, while Lynch, of West Bromwich, will serve three years and a month.
The brazen thieves used transmitter devices to unlock the cars – which were registered between 2012 and 2017 – without setting off the alarms.
The criminals then broke steering locks with angle grinders and reprogrammed blank keys before fleeing the various scenes.
Kaine Guest-Scott (L), 22, and Theon Lynch (R), 21, who targeted vehicles in train stations and parking lots in broad daylight, have both been jailed
The pair have become so adept at stealing Ford Fiestas that CCTV caught them stealing one in 90 seconds (pictured above)
Between June and November last year, Guest-Scott and Lynch stole 59 Ford Fiestas worth over £350,000, which police say were then stripped for parts.
Read more: Ford Fiesta thefts rose 53% last year
Britain’s most owned car is also the most stolen, with Ford Fiesta thefts increasing by 53% in 2022, according to official data shared exclusively with This is Money last month.
DVLA figures show 5,979 Fiestas were reported stolen last year, up from 3,909 in 2021. This means a criminal got away with one every 88 minutes on average.
The Fiesta’s ranking as Britain’s most stolen car is no huge surprise given that around 1.5 million are registered on the road.
But experts warned they could be at greater risk after Ford announced last year it would stop making them, driving up the cost of Fiesta parts.
> Learn more about the 10 most stolen cars in 2022
A police investigation was launched by West Midlands Police which resulted in their arrest in November.
CCTV captured the pair targeting Fiestas in car parks where commuters often left their vehicles on their way to work.
On September 14, the couple arrived at The Hawthorns station car park in a red Ford Fiesta owned by Lynch.
They parked the car a few blocks away before heading to the station parking lot and picking up another Fiesta.
On October 20, at around 2:15 p.m., they were filmed in the Rowley Regis parking lot stealing another Ford Fiesta.
Inside the car was the victim’s credit card which Guest-Scott and Lynch were caught using in a store later that day on CCTV.
On November 14, Guest-Scott was arrested at his home as he attempted to evade officers by jumping out of a window to escape. A week later, his co-defendant Lynch was also arrested.
After a search of both addresses, police recovered clothing that matched what the pair were wearing in the CCTV.
Officers then seized the suspect’s phones and the scan placed Lynch in the parking lots and store where a stolen bank card was used.
Transmitter devices, blank Ford keys and specialist automotive locksmith tools including a turbo decoder to unlock car door locks and reprogramming devices were also recovered.
Police recovered a number of devices linking the pair to the crimes, including transmitters, blank Ford keys and specialist automotive locksmith tools.
At Birmingham Crown Court, Guest-Scott (L), from Cosely, was sentenced to four years in prison, while Lynch (R), from West Bromwich, will serve three years and a month.
The pair have both admitted conspiracy to commit motor vehicle theft covering 59 thefts, bank card theft and fraud at Birmingham Crown Court before being sentenced.
Sergeant Mitch Darby, of the Vehicle Crime Taskforce, said: ‘This is a great result and means two prolific car thieves have been brought to justice and stopped from stealing more cars.
“Guest-Scott and Lynch brazenly committed these crimes over and over again in the middle of the day while their unsuspected victims were at work and returning to those parking lots to find their car was gone.”
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