Four men linked to a criminal gang have been jailed for the thefts of 53 high-end vehicles worth more than £3.7 million.

They were sentenced to 12.5 years in total in jail at Guildford Crown Court yesterday (March 8) – with three of the men being from the Croydon area.

Perry Lovejoy, 29, of Reigate Road in Horley, was sentenced to three years in prison.

Luke Jackson, 28, of Shoreham Close in Croydon, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.

Billy Harrison, 30, of Tollers Lane in Coulsdon, was sentenced to three years behind bars.

Harry Sales, 28, of Cornwall Road in Croydon, was sentenced to three years in prison.

Officers discovered the gang had used the “relay attack” technique to target vehicles such as Rolls Royce, Bentley, Land Rover, Range Rover and Alfa Romeo.

This method involves replicating the key's signal with a master device and transmitting it to a second device that will unlock the car.

During the investigation by Surrey Police, a relay device's manual was found on a mobile phone held by Lovejoy.

The thefts occurred over a year across multiple counties in the south east of England.

On April 26, 2023, officers arrested the suspects.

Jackson also admitted to stealing an additional 42 cars, which were valued at £2.1 million.

These offences were considered during his sentencing.

In addition, Jackson was sentenced for burgling two premises while stealing four cars, to be served concurrently following his guilty plea.

Similarly, Lovejoy has also been sentenced for being involved in the supply of class B drugs after officers found messages proving supply activity on his phone.

His prison time for this offence will run consecutively.

Investigating Officer DC Matt Earl, said: “This was a large-scale investigation that was made possible by the hard-work and dedication of the Serious and Organised Crime Unit, as well as the support and collaboration of other neighbouring police forces.

“The level of criminality that these four people undertook was significant and had a huge financial impact. These men acted out of pure greed and had no regard for how their crimes may affect the lives of their victims.

“We are glad that these criminals have been successfully brought to justice and will now have lots of time to think about their actions whilst sitting in prison.”