Sheffield thief stole car as driver was de-icing and swiped Amazon van filled with parcels

The first crime committed during defendant Ricky Roberts’ most recent spate of offending was carried out on the morning of January 26, 2021.

Ian Goldsack, prosecuting barrister, told Sheffield Crown Court during a November 28 hearing that it was a ‘cold’ morning, and at around 5.40am the complainant turned on the engine to his Kia Sportage, parked in his driveway, to try and clear the ice from his windscreen before going back inside his property.

“He heard the engine revving...he ran outside and saw a single male inside, driving the vehicle,” Mr Goldsack said, adding that the complainant ‘gave chase’ and even managed to get hold of a door handle after the vehicle had been forced to stop.

“The vehicle sped away, resulting in him [the complainant] suffering a graze,” Mr Goldsack said.

The judge, Recorder Caroline Sellars, described the circumstances in which the complainant’s car were stolen as a ‘frost theft’.

The complainant had left bank cards in his car, and two fraudulent transactions at a convenience store on nearby Prince of Wales Road in Sheffield were made with the complainant’s card a short time after the car theft, adding up to a total of £89.88.

In a victim personal statement read to the court, the complainant said he and his wife had been left ‘shaken’ by the incident, adding that he now feels ‘anxious’ about leaving the house.

Mr Goldsack said the stolen Kia Sportage, which is estimated to have a value of approximately £11,500, was recovered by police in a car park in Gleadless the following day, by which time it had been fitted with cloned plates. Roberts, of Hastilar Road South, Woodthorpe, Sheffield, was present in the vehicle, along with two other males – one of whom managed to escape. Recently stolen Amazon parcels were also recovered in the vehicle, along with a small wrap of crack cocaine; and Roberts subsequently tested positive for the Class A drug, the court heard.

Roberts’ next set of offences were committed in March this year, the first of which was carried out against an Amazon delivery driver, the second complainant, around an hour after he had started his shift at 2pm on March 30. The driver had stopped in the process of his deliveries and was outside the vehicle when Roberts stole the keys from his hand and sped off in the delivery van, with an estimated value of approximately £20,000.

The complainant’s personal bag, complete with contents to the value of around £2,000, was also stolen. Mr Goldsack said the van was believed to still be full of parcels, due to the van being stolen towards the beginning of the second complainant’s shift, however it had not been possible to estimate the combined value of the parcels.

In a statement to the court, the second complainant said he was suffering from a back injury and therefore at a ‘disadvantage’ at the time of the incident, which had left him feeling as though he was unable to defend himself.

The third complainant made a call to the emergency services shortly before midnight on March 29, 2022, after he heard the horn from his Ford Fiesta vehicle honking, which was locked and had been secured with a steering lock, while it was parked up near his property on Blackstock Road, Gleadless.

"He was alerted by the sound of the car horn honking, he believed it was as a result of steps he had taken to remove the steering wheel lock,” Mr Goldsack told the court.

The vehicle was stolen and CCTV subsequently showed Roberts using the Ford Fiesta, fitted with clone plates, at a petrol station on Mansfield Road, Rotherham; and police officers were able to identify him from the CCTV images, the court heard. 34-year-old Roberts was charged with and pleaded guilty to offences including theft, handling stolen goods, possessing a control drug of class A, fraud by false representation and receiving stolen goods at an earlier hearing.

Richard Adams, defending, said his client was a dad-of-two with a crack cocaine ‘drug habit,’ which had been the driving force behind ‘most of his offending,’ which spans a criminal record of some 46 previous offences.

Mr Adams that while Roberts’ partner and mother remained supportive of him, they would not allow him to live with them while he was using drugs, adding that this was one of the contributing factors to his most recent offending. Roberts has also previously gained work through his father’s asbestos removal business, and was hopeful to gain work with the business again, Mr Adams said.

He continued by saying that having access to his children was a big motivator for Roberts, and suggested any prison sentence could be suspended.

However, this was rejected by Recorder Sellars, and she jailed Roberts for 12 months.