FOUR ‘professional’ bike thieves have been jailed after a watchful motorcyclist spotted their van outside his home in the early hours and noted the livery.
John Stevenson alerted police when he found his Honda CBR600 gone from outside his house a short while later, and officers were able to intercept the van.
A judge said the Cardiff gang was on a ‘pre-planned, organised expedition’ and a ‘professional operation’ when they stole Stevenson’s bike from Newton Abbott
The men had travelled to Devon in a hire van equipped with bolt croppers.
Police stopped the van on the A380 near Exeter and found Stevenson’s motorcycle in the back along with a Yamaha 125.
The men told police they were returning from a fishing trip but later admitted looking for high-value motorcycles to steal.
The four all had criminal records and one was on bail over two stolen motorcycles found in his garden.
Judge Phillip Wassall at Exeter Crown Court told the men: 'Your white Ford Transit was stopped and police found two motorcycles in the back, an almost new Yamaha 125 and the Honda 600, which although slightly older was still a valuable vehicle.
'They were both stolen in the same escapade and this was clearly a pre-planned, organised expedition. It was a professional operation motivated by financial gain.'
All four men admitted two counts of theft.
Luke Spinks, 22, was jailed for 23 months; Dean Lace, 29, for 18 months; and Warren Snell, 33, for 20 months. Jamie Arnold, 26, who also admitted handling the two stolen motorcycles found in his garden, got 28 months.
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