A man has been jailed after a “daring” raid on a Moray motor dealership which lost more than £60,000 worth of cars.
Darren Malone, 27, admitted being part of a gang that travelled from Edinburgh to target Hawco Elgin.
They made off with three cars – a black Volkswagen T-Roc, grey Volkswagen Golf and red Audi A3 – in January of 2021.
Malone’s former partner, Stephanie Lee, 32, pled guilty to a single charge of theft, relating to the theft of the car keys and in recognition of her role in driving to the scene.
But there was no suggestion that she had entered the business premises.
CCTV camera evidence
Fiscal depute Robert Weir told Inverness Sheriff Court that the thefts were discovered on the morning of January 14.
Staff discovered that a key cabinet within a portable building on the chained and fenced compound had been forced open and cars worth £64,275, were missing.
Malone’s name came up early on during the police investigation due to the description of people caught on CCTV camera and their particular criminal methods.
A vehicle matching the description of the one that Malone was using at the time of the raid was also spotted on CCTV near the scene.
Thief searched cars and dealerships online
A search of Malone and Lee’s shared home uncovered a Hawko key fob.
Investigations of Malone’s phone revealed that he’d been searching for cars matching those taken from the dealership.
He had also accessed Google street view images of the local area and searched the postcode for another Elgin car dealership on the day before the crime.
A receipt found in Malone’s car led police to check CCTV camera footage at an Edinburgh filling station.
It showed Malone, Lee and others together in a white Ford Kuga on January 13, with Lee as the driver
Messages sent to Lee in the early hours of the following morning read: “We don’t want to be in convoy see we will get past you and keep crawling” and “Please sit no more than 20”.
Cell site data analysed by investigators showed Malone and Lee’s mobile phones “travelling in convoy, returning to the Edinburgh area” on the night in question.
Defence agent Colin Severin, who represented Malone, said his client was a father of two who had been keen to “accept his fair share of responsibility” for the crimes from the outset of the case.
Mr Severin told the court: “He is quite clearly an industrious young man and, were he to apply his skills appropriately, he could make something of himself”.
Lee’s solicitor Paul Dunne said his client, a sociology graduate who’s hoping to pursue a PhD, had been in “a very brief” relationship with Malone.
He characterised it as “controlling”.
He said: “When she got in the car she did not know she was going to Elgin, and did not know she was becoming involved in an enterprise, let alone a criminal one.”
Mr Dunne told the court that Lee had originally agreed to drive to an address in Edinburgh, but when the original driver “backed out” of the plan, she was told she would have to have to drive to Elgin.
“It was not discussed in great detail. She knew that something that was not lawful was going to take place,” he said.
‘These are significant charges…a custodial sentence is inevitable’
Mr Dunne told Sheriff Gary Aitken: “Had she not been in that relationship, she would not be here today”.
Sheriff Aitken told Malone, of West Pilton Green, in Edinburgh: “These are significant charges that you have pled guilty to. A custodial sentence is inevitable”.
The sheriff sentenced Malone to two years in prison.
Sentencing of Lee, from Ferry Gait Place, Edinburgh, was deferred for the production of reports.
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