This is the moment two car thieves managed to steal a Ford Fiesta in just 90 seconds, as part of a five-month crime spree in which they stole 59 vehicles worth more than £366,000 in the Midlands.
Kaine Guest-Scott, 22, and Theon Lynch, 21, who attacked vehicles at train stations and parking lots in broad daylight, were jailed.
At Birmingham Crown Court, Guest-Scott, from Cosely, was sentenced to four years in prison, while Lynch, from West Bromwich, will serve three years and one month.
The brazen thieves used transmitter devices to unlock the cars – registered between 2012 and 2017 – without setting off the alarms.
The criminals then broke the steering locks with angle grinders and reprogrammed the blank keys before fleeing the various scenes.
Kaine Guest-Scott, 22, and Theon Lynch, 21, who attacked vehicles at train stations and parking lots in broad daylight, were jailed.
The couple became so adept at stealing Ford Fiestas that CCTV caught them stealing one in 90 seconds.
Between June and November last year, Guest-Scott and Lynch stole 59 Ford Fiestas worth more than £350,000, which police say were later dismantled for parts.
West Midlands Police launched a police investigation which culminated in his arrest in November.
CCTV captured the couple targeting parties in parking lots where passengers often left their vehicles while commuting to work.
On September 14, the couple arrived at The Hawthorns station car park in a red Ford Fiesta belonging to Lynch.
They parked the car a few blocks away before heading to the station parking lot and picking up another Fiesta.
On October 20, at around 2:15 p.m., they were filmed in the parking lot of Rowley Regis stealing another Ford Fiesta.
Inside the car was the victim’s credit card which Guest-Scott and Lynch were caught using in a shop later that day on CCTV.
On November 14, Guest-Scott was arrested at his home despite attempting to evade officers by jumping out of a window to escape. A week later, his co-defendant Lynch was also arrested.
Police recovered a number of devices linking the couple to the crimes, including transmitters, blank Ford keys and specialized auto locksmith tools.
At Birmingham Crown Court, Guest-Scott, from Cosely, was sentenced to four years in prison, while Lynch, from West Bromwich, will serve three years and one month.
After a search in both directions, police recovered clothing that matched what the two were wearing on CCTV.
Officers then seized the suspect’s phones and analysis placed Lynch in parking lots and at the store where a stolen bank card was used.
Also recovered were transmitter devices, blank Ford keys and specialized automotive locksmith tools, including a turbo decoder for overriding car door locks and reprogramming devices.
Both admitted to conspiracy to commit theft of a motor vehicle covering 59 thefts, theft of a bank card and fraud at Birmingham Crown Court before being sentenced.
Sergeant Mitch Darby of the Vehicle Crimes Task Force said: “This is a great result and has meant that two prolific car thieves have been brought to justice and prevented from stealing more cars.”
“Guest-Scott and Lynch brazenly committed these crimes over and over again in the middle of the day when their unsuspecting victims were at work returning to these parking lots to find their car was gone.”
