CAR-EER CRIMINAL | 

Major player in Ireland’s stolen car industry jailed after ‘chop shop’ bust

John Ayton’s criminal activities were described as “carefully pre-planned, pre-meditated and organised”.

Today at 08:30

A 38-year-old career criminal who was one of the most senior players in Ireland’s lucrative stolen car industry was jailed yesterday for three years after he admitted possessing €460,000 worth of stolen car parts found by gardai in two so-called chop shops which were used to dismantle stolen cars.

John Ayton of Longwood, Co Meath, received the sentence when he appeared before Judge John Martin at Trim Circuit Court who described his criminal activities as “not opportunistic but carefully pre-planned, pre-meditated and organised.”

The chop shops were raided by gardai in October, 2018, following a major investigation by the Stolen Motor Vehicle Investigation Unit (SMVIU) and the force’s national anti-burglary unit.

Also sentenced yesterday was Ayton’s sidekick who gardai consider was not the ringleader of the massive criminal enterprise.

He is Co Monaghan man Andrew Bailey (30) with a previous address at Kilmessan, Co Meath, who received a three year jail sentence yesterday with the final year suspended and his premediated role in the crimes were also highlighted by the judge.

Evidence in the case had previously been given to the court by Detective Garda Mark O’ Riordan of the SMIVU after guilty pleas by both men were made at a court sitting earlier this month.

Ayton pleaded guilty to 10 out of 33 charges which had originally been brought against him following the lengthy garda investigation into the crime spree.

He admitted to seven counts of handling stolen property, one count of deception, one criminal damage charge and one charge of possession of €4,500 worth of cocaine with intent to supply.

In Bailey’s case he pleaded guilty to nine charges out of a total of 32 which included six counts of possession of stolen property, one criminal damage charge, and separate charges of possession of cocaine and cannabis with intent to supply.

Garda investigations established that the criminal enterprise involved stolen vehicles, being brought to a chop stop in Stoneyford, Co Meath where they were dismantled, and then brought to another rented facility near Straffan, Co. Kildare where the car parts were stored and sold.

Evidence was previously heard about a garda operation in which a Nissan Qashqai was seized by gardai which had previously been crashed but then was fitted with multiple stolen parts by Ayton who attempted to sell it to another person for €17,000 before detectives intervened.

This was the deception charge that father-of- three Ayton pleaded guilty to.

In total 23 victims were identified as part of the massive garda investigation and the court heard yesterday that one of these people is now deceased while another did not suffer financial loss.

Of the 21 people they suffered a combined loss of €35,000 not covered by insurance while insurance companies described in court as the “secondary victims” suffered a loss of €425,000.

The organised criminal offences which Ayton and Bailey pleaded guilty to happened between July, 2017, and October, 2018.

Ten of the victims furnished victim impact statements to the court and Judge Martin outlined how they had suffered unnecessary disturbance to their lives as well as adverse psychological consequences.

Ayton who has previously received two suspended prison terms for similar offences gave an explanation that he turned to criminality to keep a roof over his head, the court heard.

Judge Martin outlined how a tow truck purchased by Ayton in August, 2018, was used in the attempted theft a VW Golf in Clane, Co Kildare, in October and the successful theft of a Ford Focus in Kilcock, Co Kildare, on the night the two defendants were arrested by gardai.

The criminal damage incident that both men pleaded guilty to relates to this.

This Mitsubishi Tow Truck as well as a VW caddy van and a Mitsubishi truck used by the criminals were all forfeited to the State at yesterday’s hearing as well as the Nisan Qashqai that Ayton had attempted to sell and the hundreds of thousands of euro worth of car parts that were seized.

Judge Martin described the criminal activities of both men as a “well organised criminal enterprise” and described how the various stolen car parts were sorted, arranged and stacked in the two premises which were raided by gardai.

While Ayton did not offer compensation to his victims, his co-defendant Bailey had previously handed over €17,500 which will now be divided up equally among the 21 victims, the judge ordered yesterday.

Judge Martin said that this showed that Bailey had put his words of remorse into action but in Ayton’s case the fact that five years after being caught “red handed”, he had had come to court without financial compensation shows that “actions speak louder than words.”

It emerged that Bailey had said he became involved in the criminal enterprise because of a €300 cannabis debt and he has 12 previous convictions for theft offences.

Both men are fathers to three children and became mechanics at the age of 16. They have not come to garda attention since being charged with these offences and gained employment.

The massive garda operation leading to their arrest in 2018 involved the use of the garda helicopter as well as the utilisation of a number of specialist garda units.