Three men have appeared in court after a police probe into the theft of seven Ford Fiestas and two Fiat Abarth cars across the north-east.
Officers arrested the trio from Dundee on Monday when they were charged with stealing up to nine vehicles, according to Police Scotland.
It’s claimed the vehicles had vanished from addresses in Aberdeen and across Aberdeenshire between June 3 and July 9.
On Tuesday, the men appeared in private at Aberdeen Sheriff Court charged with a total of 31 alleged offences.
Stewart Burns, 40, Lee Smith, 20, and Stuart Webber, 19, all made no plea and were committed for further examination.
Dundee trio charged with combined total of 31 alleged offences
Burns faces six theft of motor vehicle charges, one of attempted car theft, possession of prohibited offensive weapons in private, being concerned in the supplying of a drug, and breaching bail conditions.
He was remanded in custody and will reappear in the dock within the next eight days.
Smith faces six theft of motor vehicle charges and one of being concerned in the production of a drug.
Webber is charged with six theft of motor vehicle offences, one of attempted car theft, driving dangerously while disqualified and without insurance, failing to stop for police, possession of prohibited offensive weapons in private, and being concerned in the supplying of a drug.
They were both released on bail to return to the courtroom on a date still to be confirmed.
10 Ford Fiestas stolen, 6 attempted thefts across north-east in first half of year
The Press and Journal reported earlier this month that Ford Fiestas – one of the UK’s most popular cars – are being targeted by thieves across the county so they can stripped for second-hand parts.
A total of 16 Fiestas, often the ST model, were targeted by car thieves across the north-east in the first half of this year alone.
Ten were stolen and six were tampered with unsuccessfully as organised crime groups tried to cash in on the lucrative market.
They preyed on motorists in the Balnagask, Bucksburn, Ferryhill, Hazelhead, Sheddocksley, Summerhill, and Woodside areas of Aberdeen.
Car owners in Dyce, Ellon, Inverbervie, and Stonehaven were also impacted.
The brazen thieves used keyless entry techniques to get into the vehicles before taking them to chop shops, where they’re thought to have been dismantled for their components.
The most common and far less sophisticated method of keyless theft sees thieves targeting the driver’s door lock, forcefully turning it until the central locking unlocks.
Other criminals use a device to amplify a key’s signal, allowing them to unlock the car, start the engine and drive away.
The so-called relay theft method involves a hand-held kit used to search for parked cars that use keyless entry.
If the car key is close enough, the thieves can amplify the signal – sending it to a transmitter that mimics the owner’s key.
One Ford Fiesta stolen every 88 minutes
The spike in thefts of Ford Fiestas hasn’t been limited to the north-east, with police issuing a warning to owners in March when it emerged that 17 Fiestas were stolen across the Tayside region over three weeks.
Last year, 64,087 vehicles were stolen across the UK – one every eight minutes – in a 4.9% increase from 61,106 in 2022, according to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
The official figures included 5,976 stolen Ford Fiestas across Great Britain – one taken every 88 minutes.
DVLA data had previously revealed a 53% spike in Fiesta thefts during 2022, rising from 3,909 in 2021 to 5,979 the following year.
Last year, official figures from the authority confirmed that the Ford Fiesta was the UK’s number one stolen vehicle in 2023.
Read more:
Warning to drivers as gangs target Ford Fiestas in car theft crimewave
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