Report by: Colin Armstrong

Long-term MiniWorld readers may recall the November 2001 issue, which exposed the ‘Fiddimore Gang’ of Mini thieves. Now, 11 years on, two of those originally convicted are once more imprisoned for crimes involving Mini theft. Sentencing took place at Maidstone Crown Court on 21 June.

Sentencing came after a 27-month investigation of what was described as a “sophisticated and organised criminal group” who had been stealing high value motor vehicles from domestic addresses and carparks across the South East, and then breaking the cars down for parts, which they then sold online. Officers began their investigation following a fire at a farm in Farningham, Kent, in January 2010, where a number of parts from stolen vehicles was found. These came from cars stolen across Kent, Essex, Surrey and London between December 2008 and January 2010. Four BMW M3s were stolen from railway station carparks in Kent between January and April 2010. Two Minis were involved in the charges, one stolen from Dartford and one from Sevenoaks, although only the ECU was recovered from the second, during a warrant search in January 2011.

On 26 April 2012, David Brown (formerly Steven Fiddimore), Peter Gregory and Daniel McKernan pleaded guilty to all the charges brought against them. Jonathon Fiddimore pleaded not guilty and a trial commenced at Maidstone Crown Court on 20 April 2012. However, midway through the trial he changed his plea to guilty.

Police described Steven Fiddimore (now known as Brown) as “an experienced vehicle mechanic who had the expertise to dismantle and disable vehicle electrical systems and strip the cars for parts which were then sold online.” It is believed that vehicles worth around £700,000 were stolen and that Brown made at least £60,000 by selling parts from these vehicles. Judge Carroll described the offences as “serious and sophisticated criminality for a high amount of profit.”