Brazen thief stole high-end cars from car garages across England

Elliot Newman was caught on CCTV brazenly driving off in high-value vehicles from garages in Warrington, Newcastle and Manchester.

Many of the cars stolen by the 20-year-old were not recovered, with the court hearing he pinched them to pay off a drugs debt.

He appeared before Manchester Crown Square Crown Court on Wednesday, however his sentencing has been pushed back to a later date as the case was ‘more complicated’ than it first seemed.

Newman, of Sherbourne Road in Middleton, has admitted an array of charges, including five thefts of motor vehicles, an attempted theft of a motor vehicle, dangerous driving in Warrington and breaching a suspended sentence order.

He also pleaded guilty to charges of theft, criminal damage, driving without insurance and driving while disqualified.

Hugh McKee, prosecuting, explained how on June 10, 2020, a sales assistant at the Audi garage on Chester Road in Old Trafford spoke to two men at around 2pm.

One of them was the defendant, who gave a false name, who enquired about an Audi S3 valued at £20,000 and asked to look inside.

He sat in the driver’s seat and his colleague sat in the passenger side. Newman then said ‘mint car this’, before snatching the key from the salesman and locking the door.

Newman appeared befre Manchester Crown Square Crown Court

The worker put his hands on the bonnet to stop him from driving away, but Newman span the wheels and drove off, clipping the salesman’s knee. The Audi was not recovered.

On August 17, 2020, further offences occurred in Warrington, where the defendant stole a BMW M3 valued at £34,950 from Rix Motors on Hawleys Lane.

A salesman was approached on the forecourt by the same two men at 10.20am, who enquired about the vehicle in question.

Newman was given permission to start the car to hear the engine, before driving forward at speed, reversing and driving off.

The salesman cut his finger during the incident and feared he was going to be run over. The BWM was later recovered in Manchester.

On the same day as the M3 theft, the pair visited the Halliwell Jones BMW and Mini garage on Winwick Road.

They spoke to a salesman at 2.45pm while wearing face coverings and asked to look at a John Cooper Works Mini outside, valued at £19,500.

Again, the defendant snatched the key and drove off down Winwick Road and Hawleys Lane in a ‘reckless manner’. The car was not recovered.

The next day, the defendant committed three offences in Newcastle in the north east, stealing an Audi SQ2 worth £40,000 from a dealership in Wallsend and an Audi S7 worth £27,000 from Vroom motor depot in North Shields.

The Halliwell Jones garage on Winwick Road was targetted (Image: Google Maps)

Newman also attempted to snatch the keys to steal an Audi Q7 worth £44,000 from a dealership on Scotswood Road in Newcastle, but he was stopped by a quick-thinking salesman who told him ‘no chance’.

All of the CCTV was reviewed by police, with an officer ‘immediately’ identifying the defendant from previous dealings with him.

Newman was arrested on October 19 last year at Manchester Airport arrivals. He gave a no comment interview to police but pleaded guilty to the matters in court.

The offences put him in breach of a suspended sentence for theft offences, after he stole a Rolex watch, neckless, a Mercedes and a BMW.

The reason for this suspension was due to the defendant having served time in custody on remand, as well as the judge on that occasion accepting his mitigation that he was committing offences to pay off a drugs debt – something which was rejected by judge Anthony Cross, who presided over the latest hearing.

For this reason, the case was adjourned to be heard by the judge who sentenced him on the last occasion.

Before adjourning, judge Cross said: “Matters are more complicated than it seems at first sight.

“If the previous judge has accepted the mitigation, it would be wrong for me to deal with you in any other way, so I order an adjournment for as short a time as possible.”

The co-defendant, who was not named in court, is due to be sentenced next year.