A man from Whittlesey headed an organised crime gang involved in more than 50 keyless thefts of around £2.4 million worth of vehicles.

Police say they identified Valdas Bajorinas, 35, of Guildenburgh Crescent, Whittlesey, as the gang ‘boss’.

“Messages recovered by police showed Bajorinas as being involved in the offending throughout,” said a spokesperson for Leicestershire police.

“It included the organisation and training of people involved in the offending”

Bajorinas pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal and concealing criminal property.

He was sentenced at Leicester Crown Court to a total of seven years and two months.

Four of the defendants were sentenced, with three sentenced previously in January this year.

In total, the seven defendants have been sentenced to more than 30 years in prison

It followed an extensive investigation carried out by Leicestershire Police.

They had identified a group who were targeting high-value keyless entry vehicles including BMWs, Range Rovers and Mercedes AMGs which ranged in value from £20,000 to £130,000 each.

The offences were committed across a number of different force areas with the gang members carrying out different roles to target and steal the vehicles.

The thefts took place during the early hours of the morning, without using the owner’s key, before driving the vehicles were taken away to be stripped down to parts.

The parts would then either be sold online or transported by lorry out of the UK via ferry port to Lithuania.

But on February 18, 2019, when Leicestershire Police officers were called to a report of three Range Rover vehicles being stolen in the Oakham area.

An immediate response led to one of the defendants Juozas Paulauskas being arrested near to the scene.

This led to further enquiries and investigation including analysis of CCTV and digital devices which led to other members of the gang being identified.

All were arrested and remanded into custody with a significant reduction in keyless thefts of vehicles then being noticed across the region.

In total it was found there were 57 vehicle thefts which police could prove that had been committed by members of the gang across 10 police force areas.

Most of the defendants, apart from Bajorinas, lived in the Boston area.