TWO men from Redbridge were among a gang of car thieves who were jailed yesterday for stealing more than half a million pounds worth of high-performance vehicles.

Four men were sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court yesterday (July 13), following the sentencing of two other gang members in March.

During a crime spree last year the gang stole 25 vehicles with a value of £520,000, and picked out houses with expensive cars in driveways before breaking in and stealing the car keys.

Some of the victims reported actually seeing their cars being taken from their driveways. One was a Police Special Constable who confronted the gang as they disturbed him while taking his car from outside his home in Billericay, Essex.

Thomas Dickenson, 21, of Seven Kings in Ilford, was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to burgle.

Daniel Rene, 26, of Leamington Gardens in Ilford, was found guilty of conspiracy to burgle after denying the charge, and was jailed for five years.

Alongside the men from Redbridge, Petras Aleknavicious, 27, of Markyate Road in Dagenham pleaded guilty to conspiracy to handle stolen goods and was sentenced to four years.

Vitalijus Matulis, 29, of Campsey Road in Barking, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to handle stolen goods, possession of a false driving licence, and possession of a false passport, and was jailed for six years.

It is thought at least some of the cars were being stolen to order and were often given false registration plates before being taken outside of the UK.

Back in March, Robbie Duff, 23, of Milverton Gardens, Ilford, pleaded guilty to three residential burglaries and asked for 23 further burglaries to be taken into consideration, before being sentenced to five years in prison.

At the same time, Dean Carey, 26, also of Milverton Gardens, pleaded guilty to burglary and theft, and was sentenced to three years.

The police believe the robberies were carried out by Duff, Dickenson, Carey and Rene, whole Matulis and Aleknavicious were responsible for taking the cars out of the country, using their foreign connections in their home country of Lithuania and beyond.

DCI Neil Thompson, of the territorial policing crime squad, said: "The results [yesterday] are a consequence of an intense intelligence-led operation undertaken to reduce residential burglary in the MPS by disrupting a sophisticated criminal network based in Ilford, who operated across north London, force and international boundaries.

"Due to the sterling efforts of DS Steve King and DC Paul Crowther, the two main handlers of property, in this case high value motor vehicles which were stolen to order, were identified working in cohorts with a team of local burglars.

“These handlers who were of Lithuanian extraction were using overseas contacts to exploit exportation routes.

"I'd like to take this opportunity to also thank officers from Barking and Dagenham, Redbridge and Havering boroughs for their commitment and dedication whilst seconded to the TP Crime Squad."