TWO young men found handling a £25,000 Range Rover which was stolen following a burglary were snared thanks to a tracking device installed on the vehicle.

Tommy Mimms, 19, and James Lomas, 20, together with a teenager, who cannot be identified because of his age, were captured on CCTV at a petrol station with the stolen car.

The Range Rover was taken after burglars raided a home in Booth Avenue, Colchester, in the early hours of February 16, 2020.

Ipswich Crown Court heard two handbags were snatched, alongside the keys to the vehicle.

A tracking device fitted to the vehicle showed its engine was turned on at about 2.04am.

The Range Rover was driven out of Colchester and onto the A12, where it stopped at a Shell garage in Doggetts Lane, Marks Tey.

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CCTV footage taken from the petrol station showed each of the defendants exiting the vehicle.

The court heard after stopping at the garage, the vehicle moved onwards to the Rainham area.

When the vehicle was found by police, two screwdrivers and a crowbar were discovered inside.

The court heard call data obtained from Lomas’ phone showed it activated on two masts near the burglary at about 2.12am.

In police interview, Mimms, of Bulmer Walk, Rainham, said he travelled to Colchester on the night of the offence with two college friends, believing he was to collect a rental car.

He denied knowing the car was stolen.

Lomas, of Gainsborough Drive, Southend, answered no comment to questions asked.

Mimms and Lomas denied burglary and theft, but admitted handling stolen goods, pleas which were accepted by the Crown Prosecution Service.

In mitigation, the court heard a six-page character reference had been penned in support of Lomas, claiming a suspended prison sentence would be enough to “ensure he will not return to these courts again”.

Recorder Graham Huston said: “It is impossible to conceive any circumstances in which you wouldn’t have known how the item was stolen initially through burglary.”

Lomas was sentenced to a year imprisonment, suspended for two years, while Mimms received a two-year community order.

Both must complete 120 hours of unpaid work and a 40-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

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