Thieves used 'keyless tech' to steal Mercedes around Bolton

Joshua Phelps, 28 and Craig Morley, 38, were part of a gang that used “keyless technology” to steal the cars right from their owners’ driveways.

Bolton Crown Court heard how both of them had discussed “cars, getting cars, and going out with a machine.”

Prosecutor Wayne Jackson said: “The crown say that this, in effect, was a team job between them.”

He added: “The actual case itself concerns the police investigation into the theft of high-value motor vehicles that utilise the so-called ‘keyless entry’ method, in which thefts had been taking place in the Bolton area.”

The case was heard at Bolton Crown Court (Image: Newsquest)

Mr Jackson told the court that the men were identified after Phelps was caught on CCTV, leading police to search his home in October 2022.

Phelps himself was later stopped and arrested on Accrington Road in Whalley on November 11 2022.

He was taken to Green Bank Police Station in Blackburn where after examining his phone officers found incoming and outgoing calls.

Phelps was then taken to Bolton Police Station and his house was searched again.

On examining the phone, officers found a series of calls linking both Phelps and Morley to a series of car thefts.

Joshua Phelps has now been jailed (Image: GMP)

Mr Jackson told the court how the first theft involved Phelps but not Morley when a Mercedes, worth £28,000 was stolen overnight on September 7 2022 after its owner had gone to bed.

The next morning, he found his car had been stolen from the driveway and that on looking at the CCTV he “saw a male carrying some form of tablet".

The footage also showed the Mercedes being driven off with an Audi “in tandem.”

The next day, Phelps sent out a “walkaround” showing off the stolen Mercedes in a phone message asking if anyone “wanted it.”

Both Phelps and Morley were then involved in the next incident when they tried to steal another Mercedes, worth around £20,000 from a driveway on the night of September 13 that year.

But they and two other men, all waring hooded tops, ran off after lights came on.

An Audi captured on CCTV along Wigan Road was later found at Phelps’ home with false plates attached.

Mr Jackson said that Phelps, but not Morley this time, was involved in yet another theft on September 20, this time of an Audi worth £41,000.

He told the court that the owner had said: “The whole ordeal of his car being stolen has caused him a lot of stress.”

He added: “What the crown say it that these cars are, in effect, stolen to order.”

Both men were then involved in the theft of another Mercedes, worth £35,000 and this time a “Motobility” car needed by its disabled owner to be able to travel on September 27.

They stole yet another Mercedes, worth £22,500, in Bromley Cross on September 30 again using a keyless “device.”

Craig Morley was also involved (Image: GMP)

Finally, both men were involved in stealing a £25,000 Mercedes in Little Lever on October 2.

Later that same day police on patrol in Bolton came across Phelps driving in Bolton town centre, originally in a “normal and safe manner".

But Mr Jackson said he then drove off when officers tried to get him to stop, reaching speeds of up to 100mph.

He said: “In fact the car was being driven so fast that they ended their pursuit of it.”

Phelps was caught driving dangerously again on April 13 the following year, this time in a VW Golf on St Peters Way.

Mr Jackson said that he travelled on the wrong side of the road before eventually being brought to a stop when he turned out to have been driving while over the limit for alcohol.

He said: “He was arrested, cautioned and replied, they told me not to stop.”

Morley was also caught out for a driving offence when he was stopped in a black Audi on January 5 2023 despite having been banned from driving.

Phelps, of Levens Drive, Breightmet, was convicted of five counts of theft of a motor vehicle, attempted theft of a motor vehicle.

He was also convicted of two counts of dangerous driving and drink driving.

Morley, of Highwood Close, Breightmet, confessed to two counts of theft of a motor vehicle, attempted theft of a motor vehicle and driving while disqualified.

Niamh McGinty, defending, Phelps, said that he had earned credit for his “mostly guilty pleas” and pointed out that he had already spent 465 days on a tag.

She said: “He knows that, frankly, his own stupidity and recklessness means that he cannot ask the court for an alternative sentence.”

Ms McGinty said that Phelps’ crimes had been driven by getting into drug debt and that he had since tried to leave Bolton to get away from “negative influences.”

She said that he was now “able to recognise the pain victims have suffered.”

Tanya Elahi, for Morley, said that he also now recognised his responsibility for his crimes and said that he was “willing and able to turn his life around.”

She also said that many of the delays in the case had not been Morley’s fault and that he had not played a “leading role” in the thefts.

Ms Elahi said that Morley, like Phelps, deserved credit for his guilty pleas.

ALSO READ: Two men charged after keyless theft of Mercedes vehicles

ALSO READ: 'Justice at breaking point' with 100s of Bolton criminal cases delayed

ALSO READ: Thousands of victims wait for justice amid 'unprecedented mess' facing courts

But Judge Jon Close said it was “apparent that pleas could and should have been entered much earlier than that".

He reminded the pair that one of their victims “describes being terrified and feels unable to sleep in her own home” while another needed his “Motability” car to get around.

Judge Close said the thefts were “clearly premeditated and stolen to order.”

He jailed Phelps for three years and nine months and banned him from driving for three years and ten months.

Turning to Morley, Judge Close jailed him for two years and three months.