Car-ringing gang smashed

POLICE have smashed a lucrative car-cloning ring in Greater Manchester.

Seven men at the heart of a two-year plot that involved more than £1 million of vehicles being stolen, cloned and sold-on have started jail sentences.

The organised crime group was responsible for stealing cars from across Greater Manchester “ringing” or changing the vehicles’ identities with false plates and then selling them to unsuspecting members of the public.

They sold them through Autotrader magazine or on the roadside with falsified MOT certificates or registration documents. It is believed the gang made more than £350,000, with 76 vehicles illegally cloned and sold-on.

One member, Michael O’Donnell (29), whose address was given as HM Prison Forest Bank, escaped from custody on May 2 but was later caught. He was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison.

Daniel O’Donnell (18), of Warren Road, Shaw Heath; Colin Mangan (35), of Daresbury Close, Bridgehall; Alan Rowland (56), of Robinson Street, Edgeley; James Pearson (55), of Chinley Avenue, Moston; Daniel Fawley (22), of HM Prison Manchester; and Aqeel Ashraf (19), of Goyt Crescent, Brinnington, were all jailed for between 21/2 and 41/2 years. In July, 2009, officers in Stockport swooped on a number of homes as part of Operation Banker, a 12-month intelligence operation.

Det-Insp Derrick Spencer said: “This is a fantastic result both for all the officers who have worked tirelessly for more than a year to smash this car-cloning ring, but also for the unsuspecting victims who were duped into buying these stolen cars.

“A lot of people have been left severely out of pocket — and without a vehicle — thanks to these men as the cars had to be seized and impounded as part of the investigation.

“I hope seeing them behind bars will give them some peace of mind.

“It is clear this gang had an orchestrated plan and over time this criminal enterprise became second nature to them — a slick operation with each member of the gang playing a specific and well-defined role.

“Given the sheer volume of offences, it is equally clear they had no intention of slowing down as they were making considerable sums of cash through this shady enterprise.

“The arrogance and greed of this gang has come back to haunt them thanks to police.”