'Alert' cops caught suspect in £500,000 car theft plot in North Wales

North Wales Live

10-07-2025

A man had been jailed for his part in a "sophisticated" plot to steal 16 high value cars worth up to £500,000 from Cheshire and North Wales. Tomas Politovas covered CCTV and doorbell cameras with duct tape and used high tech equipment and GPS jamming devices before stealing BMWs and other vehicles.
He would break them up with accomplices probably to sell the parts abroad. Even when the schemers' barn in Norfolk was raided their thefts continued.
But a judge today praised "alert" police officers in Prestatyn after they spotted Politovas's suspicious car and arrested him. He was found with a rucksack containing a Stanley knife and other "tools of his trade," Caernarfon Crown Court heard. You can sign up for all the latest court stories here
The 35-year-old, of no fixed address but who had lived in Northampton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal motor vehicles and possession of a bladed article. He was jailed for three years and nine months, and for three months, respectively for those offences.
Prosecutor Anna Pope said the defendant and at least one other person travelled to North Wales and Cheshire to steal, or try to steal, high-value cars worth £450,000 to £500,000 over about eight weeks. A signal jammer was used to block the signal from the key fob so the door could be unlocked without a key.
Another jammer would block the tracking device. The pair wore gloves and balaclavas and covered CCTV and doorbell cameras with duct tape, said Ms Pope.
The defendant would drive the vehicle to Stoke-on-Trent then put a cloned registration plate on the stolen vehicle. Offences began in Cheshire on January 29 then in North Wales from February 22 this year, the court heard.
Ms Pope listed a series of incidents. On January 29 he tried to steal a BMW in Cheshire but was disturbed and left, leaving a rucksack. His DNA was found on a glove inside it.
Politovas stole a vehicle in North Wales on February 22 and two more on February 26. On March 6 he stole a VW Golf in Rhyl.
Later he stole a Mercedes but that tracker worked and it was traced to Norfolk. Police swooped on a large barn there and found GPS jamming devices and Mercedes car parts wrapped in black plastic.
Ms Pope said four other Lithuanian nationals were there and the prosecution believe they were due to send the parts abroad.
In yet another attempt on March 10 Politovas and an accomplice tried to steal another car in North Wales but were confronted by the homeowner. However one of them who was holding a "shiny object" in his hand made a "jabbing motion", said Ms Pope.
Later police stopped the defendant's car and he was arrested. Officers found duct tape and false plates. His phone had messages showing he was told which town to go to steal cars which had already been identified.
In an interview he told police he had been "forced" to steal them. In a statement one victim said her daughter had been awaiting heart surgery, and her husband worked away.
Another victim said he felt his "children's security had been violated."
Simon Killeen, defending, said: "This was not the heart of the octopus but just an external tentacle. A key component but not a man who received £400,000 or £500,000."
He said Politovas, who had the benefit of a Lithuanian interpreter, had come to the UK lawfully but that that permission had expired.
He has been in Ireland and then in the UK for about four years. He is remorseful, he added. The judge His Honour Timothy Petts said it had been a "sophisticated and well-planned operation".
"The target was sent to you and you would travel to the area to steal it late at night...You were finally arrested by alert response officers in Prestatyn.
"They saw you and another man, who is still wanted, and realised you were wanted for an attempted theft that morning. Your rucksack contained the tools of your trade - a Stanley knife, screwdrivers, drill bits and cloned number plates, a device to allow you to get into cars without a key, and a small amount of cannabis."
His crimes had a financial and practical impact on his victims. One woman's child was awaiting heart surgery and he stole her car, said the judge.
Jailing Politovas he gave him concurrent, nine-month sentences for each of two counts of deliberately interfering with wireless telegraphy and ten-month sentences for each of two counts of going equipped for theft.
The judge said he "anticipated (he) would be deported in due course".