THIEVES' attempts to steal a valuable motorhome from outside a Bolton house were foiled when a tracker fitted to it led police to the vehicle.

Richard Johnson, Sean Morris and Thomas Poulson carefully planned the theft of the Fiat Ducato motorhome from the driveway of a house on Longworth Road, Egerton, on June 28 last year.

They dismantled part of the dashboard, used a device to start the vehicle without a key and even slashed the tyres of other vehicles on the drive to stop the motorhome being followed.

At Bolton Crown Court Jack Troupe, prosecuting, told how David Gorton, owner of the £45,000 motorhome, heard a car alarm going off outside the house just before midnight.

“He went to the living room of his property and looked out of a window and immediately noticed that the motorhome was on longer on the driveway where he had left it,” said Mr Troupe.

“Two of his other vehicles had had their tyres slashed.”

Police and the motorhome’s tracker company were contacted and officers found it being driven in the Swinton area with a VW Golf, which was being driven on false plates, following close behind.

“The officers followed the vehicles as they turned onto Maldon Crescent,” said Mr Troupe.

When they stopped, Johnson and Poulson got out of the motorhome and tried to get into the VW Golf, but its doors were locked and so they ran off towards the East Lancs Road.

Police cars boxed in the Golf, arrested Morris and found a debit card belonging to Johnson in its centre console.

Other officers gave chase to the men on foot, with Poulson discarding items, including two broken mobile phones, as he fled.

He was caught and arrested while Johnson was found hiding in a back garden.

When the motorhome was examined, it was discovered that a large portion of its dashboard had been removed.

”Plugged into the ignition was a device which the officers believed was used to start the engine without the keys,” said Mr Troupe.

Johnson, aged 34, of Brentwood, Salford, Morris, aged 34, of Spruce Court, Salford and Poulson, aged 32, of Tombridge Crescent, Pontefract, who all have previous convictions, pleaded guilty to theft of the motorhome.

At the time Johnson was subject to a suspended prison sentence and on licence after serving a jail sentence for robbery.

Neil Ronan, defending, told the court that his offending stems from childhood trauma and a “rapacious” addiction to cocaine.

But he added that, while on remand in prison, he has freed himself of drugs and is on medication for his mental health.

Mark Friend, for Morris, said that, at the time of the motorhome theft, he had no stable accommodation and was misusing alcohol and drugs on a “prodigious scale”. But he stressed that, since then, he has found a permanent home for the first time in a decade.

Shannon Woodley, defending Poulson, who works as a delivery driver, said he had been suffering from mental health problems in Summer last year. He committed another similar offence shortly afterwards but has remained offence-free since.

Recorder Alexandra Simmonds sentenced Johnson to three years and seven months in prison.

She accepted defence submissions that there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation for the other two.

Morris was sentenced to 21 months in prison, suspended for two years and was ordered to undertake a thinking skills programme plus 30 days of rehabilitation activities.

Poulson was sentenced to 18 months in jail, suspended for two years, must undertake 120 hours of unpaid work and participate in a thinking skills programme plus 15 days of rehabilitation activities.