Gang stole Ford cars and vans in year long Lanarkshire crimewave

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Three car thieves have admitted stealing scores of vehicles in a year-long crimewave.The serial offenders targeted high-end Ford cars and Ford vans in a stealing spree across Lanarkshire and the West of Scotland.At Paisley Sheriff Court, William Cairns, Mark Busby and Robert Busby faced 125 charges totalling thefts valuing almost £1 million with the trio admitting to 67 thefts of vehicles worth more than £342,000.The total is thought to be much higher as some owners didn’t provide values for their vehicles.The Lanarkshire Live app is available to download now.

Get all the news from your area – as well as features, entertainment, sport and the latest on Lanarkshire’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic – straight to your fingertips, 24/7.The free download features the latest breaking news and exclusive stories, and allows you to customise your page to the sections that matter most to you.Head to the App Store and never miss a beat in Lanarkshire - iOS - Android Court papers show each of the charges were connected to serious organised crime.In many of the thefts, the vehicles were taken from outside the homes of the owners as the country was in lockdown in 2020.Robert Busby, 39, admitted stealing a white Ford Transit valued at approximately £10,000 from Troon Avenue in East Kilbride on January 23 2020.Procurator fiscal, David McDonald told Paisley Sheriff Court: “At 9pm on January 22, the owner of the vehicle saw his white Ford Transit was parked and secured in Troon Avenue.“At 1am on January 23, the owner discovered that his van had been stolen and contacted the police.

The van was never recovered."A mobile device attributed to Robert Busby was connected to masts in the vicinity of the locus between 11.42pm on January