A young Mercedes-Benz qualified technician resorted to dismantling high value stolen cars for a drug gang after becoming addicted to cocaine.
William O’Neill, 26, was arrested by police who traced a stolen Range Rover to a rented industrial unit in Blackburn in June 2020, where they found him dismantling the expensive SUV.
Officers also found the remains of other high value cars which had been broken down.
And at a farm near Blackburn where O’Neill had been living in a caravan, police discovered a stolen Mercedes, plus a written-off Jaguar and Land Rover Discovery that were being repaired using parts from stolen vehicles.
Then in 2021 officers passed a house O’Neill was then living in and noticed a stolen Audi in its garden.
LancsLive reports that O’Neill’s defence lawyer Mark Stuart said O’Neill had completed an apprenticeship with Mercedes but developed an addiction to cocaine and when the drug dealers he owed money to realised his skills he was told to pay off his debt by dismantling cars.
Stuart said he was just “a cog in a much bigger wheel” and played no part in stealing or selling on the cars.
O’Neill, of Portree Crescent, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods and was sentenced by Judge Stephen Davies to 24 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, plus 15 days of rehabilitation activities and a three month curfew.
Judge Davies said there was no indication that O’Neill earned a lot of money from the illegal activity.
In mitigation, Stuart said O’Neill had got off the drugs and settled down with his long-term partner and children since the offences in 2020 and 2021.