Two men from Woking were among those sentenced after committing a series of motorhome thefts across the Southeast last year.

John Doe, 46, and Cornelius Buckley, 35, from Woking, and Joseph Wickens, 42, from Hailsham were sentenced at Reading Crown Court on 20 March after pleading guilty to conspiracy to steal motor vehicles.

The investigation into the ring of thieves first began on 22 May last year, after a motorhome was stolen from Chobham and taken into Sussex.

A second motorhome was stolen from Hook on 28 May, when the owner got a tracking update that his vehicle had been moved to Woking. Fortunately, officers were able to recover the motorhome and return it to the owner.

Using number plate recognition and CCTV officers were quickly able to establish that the grey Volkswagen Tiguan being used as the “mission vehicle” for these thefts was registered to John Doe. Financial investigations also placed Joseph Wickens in the car with John on at least one occasion, via a payment made at a petrol station with his card.

On 30 May, officers on proactive patrol were alerted to the Tiguan in convoy with a fourth stolen motorhome. The vehicles were stopped in Farnborough, and Doe, Wickens and Buckley arrested. Mobile devices, gloves, facemasks and cutting implements were also seized.

Following their arrests, text conversations showed the group had researched and taken photos of one of the stolen motorhomes in the day prior to the theft.

Doe was given a two-year prison sentence suspended for 18 months and 30 rehabilitation days, Wickens a 16-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months, and Buckley a 12-month community order and ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.

Investigating officer PC Adam Grindlay said: “Thanks to the quick work of investigating officers, the thieves were promptly identified and arrested within eight days of the first report.”