THREE people who were stopped in a transit van which contained bolt cutters and fuel pumps for stealing diesel tried to claim they didn't know the equipment was there, a court heard.
Paul Dupre, 36, Warren Raphael, 33, and Anais Montague, 21, were in a Ford Transit when they were spotted by police at Weeley roundabout heading towards Thorpe-le-Soken.
Officers then pulled the van over in Beaumont-cum-Moze shortly before 3am in February 2023 because the vehicle did not have insurance, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.
Meeno Chawla, prosecuting, said Raphael – who had been driving the van – insisted the Ford Transit had insurance and told police he had bought the vehicle a few hours earlier in Basildon, but officers noticed the number plates had been stuck on rather than screwed on.
After searching the vehicle, police found disc cutters, bolt croppers, fuel pumps, and several one-gallon jerry cans.
In police interview, Montague said Raphael had dropped her off at a party in Colchester and later picked her up in a different van, but did not know what the van was for or ask why it smelt of petrol.
Miss Chawla said: “While she was in the van she had not paid attention to what was in it.
“She said vans never smell good – they were all chatting before they were stopped.”
Dupre, who is serving a 12-year sentence for child sex offences for which he was convicted last year, gave a no comment interview.
Raphael told officers he had bought the Ford Transit for £1,000 because he renovates vehicles but did not know about the equipment in the back the van.
All three denied one count each of going equipped for theft but were convicted by a jury in June.
Johnny Martin, mitigating for Dupre, accepted the defendant had a long track record of offending but added he did not have a theft conviction for several years.
Natalie Jolly, mitigating for Montague, said the defendant was 17 at the time and was “easily influenced by the other defendants who were considerably older than her”.
David Langwallner, mitigating for Raphael, said a prison term would have a detrimental effect on the defendant’s four children and result in him losing his job.
The Recorder, Mr Adam Gadd, sentenced Dupre, of HMP Littlehey, Cambridgeshire, to a 10-month sentence which he will serve consecutively at the end of his 12-year sentence.
Raphael, of Chinook, Colchester, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for 20 months, and must carry out 15 rehabilitation days.
He must also wear a trail monitoring tag for four months and pay £1,150 in court costs.
Montague, of Walsingham Road, Colchester, was sentenced to 10 weeks in prison, suspended for six months, and must carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
She must also wear a trail monitoring tag for three months and pay £1,150 in court costs.
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