Pembrokeshire caravan thief caught using fake number plate

Martin Fitzgerald, of Kings Weston Lane in Avonmouth, was part of a gang who made off with two caravans from Well Park Caravan Park in New Hedges – just under two years after he was busted for stealing a caravan in Wiltshire.

Prosecutor Craig Jones told Swansea Crown Court that police were called to Westlands Lane in Melksham, Wiltshire, at around 10.40pm on January 29, 2022, after the part-owner of the site spotted a car making off with a Baileys Unicorn caravan.

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“The site had been accessed via an orchard and a fence had been driven through,” Mr Jones said.

The police spotted Fitzgerald towing the caravan in a Nissan X-Trail on to the M4 some 11 miles away heading towards Bristol, before going on to the M5.

He was stopped by the police and arrested. Checks showed the registration didn’t match the car, whilst cutting equipment was also found inside.

On the afternoon of December 11 last year, the owner of Well Park Caravan Park in New Hedges reported two vehicles entering the site and a group of “six to eight” men hitching two caravans to them.

Fitzgerald drove away in a Skoda with a Coachman caravan valued at £32,000, whilst a Kia made off with a £25,000 caravan.

Martin Fitzgerald was part of a gang which attempted to steal two caravans from Well Park Caravans in New Hedges. (Image: Google Earth)

The defendant was stopped by the police on the M4 at a services outside Cardiff. He didn’t have a licence or insurance, and a fake number plate was attached to the Skoda using hair ties. The number plate this was covering was also fake.

Officers also found bolt cutters, jump leads, a wheel brace and towing wing mirrors, as well as another number plate.

Fitzgerald was disqualified from driving at the time, and was on bail whilst under investigation for the first caravan theft.

The 60-year-old admitted theft relating to the first incident, and two offences of attempted theft, going equipped for theft, two offences of fraudulent use of a registration mark, driving whilst disqualified, and driving without insurance relating to the second incident.

Dan Griffiths, in mitigation, described the defendant as “an isolated, lonely individual who was struggling for money”.

“Given his limitations, it’s inconceivable that it was his plan to steal the vehicles,” he said. “He was the one tasked with towing the vehicles on both occasions.

“He agreed to do so for a comparatively small amount of money.

“This clearly marks an escalation in terms of the seriousness of his offending.”

Judge Geraint Walters jailed Fitzgerald for 10 months for the Wiltshire theft, and a total of another 12 months for the Pembrokeshire offences.

He banned him from driving for 17 months.