Leaders of £1m stolen machine operation jailed for 22 years

The men, who all appeared at Preston Crown Court, were involved in the handling, cloning and sale of stolen machinery, with several of them also being concerned with illegal money laundering.

Max Wynn (Image: Lancs Police)

Max Wynn pleaded guilty to conspiring to handle stolen goods, converting criminal property and entering into or becoming concerned in acquisition, retention, use or control of criminal property. He was jailed for eight and a half years.

Richard Wynn, 45, of Ravenoak Lane, Worsthorne, was found guilty at trial of conspiring to handle stolen goods. He was jailed for eight and a half years.

Alex Grice, 34, of Coleshill Avenue, Burnley, pleaded guilty to conspiring to handle stolen goods. He was jailed for five years and 11 months.

Karl Langley, 44, of Lower Skirt Green, Halifax, pleaded guilty to three counts of handling stolen goods. He was handed a two years sentence suspended for 18 months and ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.

Richard Wynn (Image: Lancs Police)

Craig Douglas, 41, of Skip Colt Green, Halifax, pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods. He was handed an 18 month sentence suspended for 18 months and ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work.

Gavin Mellor, 53, of Dyneley Lane, Burnley, pleaded guilty to entering into or becoming concerned in acquisition, retention, use or control of criminal property. He was handed two years suspended for 18 months and ordered to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work and a curfew of 180 days from 8pm until 6am. 

Alex Grice (Image: Lancs Police)

And Ian Mellor, 73, of Pen-y-Ian, Ruabon, Wrexham, pleaded guilty to entering into or becoming concerned in acquisition, retention, use or control of criminal property. He was handed 10 months in prison suspended for 18 months and given a 60 day curfew from 6pm until 5am. 

Judge Andrew Jefferies said: "Max Wynn, you were the driving force behind the operation and went on to sell the vast majority of the machines, and you were the director of the company, worked in the unit and cleaned some of the machines and arranged for their delivery.

"You laundered the proceeds by transferring money to family and friends and associates. You also had a leading role in the money laundering conspiracy with the Mellors, and there was evidence of very extravangant living.

"Richard Wynn, you transported and delivered the machines and introduced Max to Gavin Mellor. 

"The payments you received suggested you were involved for a long period of time.

"Throughout your trial you came across like you simply didn't care, and closed your eyes to what was going on.

"Alex Grice, I do not put you in a similar role with Max Wynn but you were highly trusted by him and received a commission for the machines with which you were involved.

"You were heavily involved in the cloning process and the stickers and received around £20,000. The value of the machinery you were involved with was just short of £700,000.

"I take into account that when the unit was raided you disassociated yourself from your co-conspirators."

The stolen machines ranged from one tonne dumper trucks to 22 tonne excavators, with the values ranging from around £10,000 to in excess of £100,000 per machine.

They were stolen from across the United Kingdom between 2015 and 2018, although many were taken from the North West, and came into the possession of the defendants swiftly after the thefts, being sold on within a few days or weeks.

On Monday, prosecuting barrister, Ben Lawrence, told the court the operation was headed up by 35-year-old Max Wynn, of Inchfield, Worsthorne, who recruited a number of other men, including his brother, Richard, 47, to help him clone the vehicles, source buyers, and then launder the money from the sales through genuine and fake companies.

The evidence in the case relates to 46 machines, which were mainly stolen from construction sites and compounds before being taken to a unit on the Lomeshaye Industrial Estate in Nelson, where they were then cloned for onward sale.

The cloning involved altering the plates, labelling them with new stickers, obliterating the stamp pins and serial numbers by sanding or grinding, and replacing them with numbers found online, as well as covering them with false paint work, with very few people noticing there was anything untoward.

Between 2015 and 2018, Max Wynn also recruited Alex Grice and Karl Langley to help him clone the machinery, and Craig Douglas, who helped source one of the machines - an £80,000 excavator.

Meanwhile, Gavin Mellor, who had met Richard Wynn in prison, was recruited as a middle man to help launder money through several companies, which were later found never to have paid VAT or filed tax returns.

Gavin Mellor then persuaded his father, Ian Mellor to become involved, who used his legitimate companies and accounts to launder money, in a convoluted manner, and withdraw clean cash for Max Wynn.

Gavin Mellor was paid “wages” for his services and Ian Mellor also retained/spent money as payment for his services.

The court heard Max Wynn would use the proceeds of the sale of stolen machines to make cash withdrawals (for the purchase of further machines), to spend on debit cards and to make transfers to family members and associates.

It was also heard Max Wynn bought himself designer clothes, paid for holidays to Spain, and bought a motorcycle with the money he made.

In September 2017, police raided the unit in Nelson and found two machines as well as grinding equipment, cloning equipment, PIN plates and a stealth mobile phone used by Max Wynn.

In another unit in Clayton-le-Moors they found three more stolen machines worth more than £100,000.

The prosecution offered no evidence in relation to two other defendants, Jill Mellor, and Mark Smorthit.

PC Neil Goodison, of Lancashire Police, said: “We linked the high-value thefts of plant machinery to Max Wynn, and our investigation then led us to the other six men, and the industrial unit in Nelson.

“In total we uncovered a conspiracy involving more than a million pounds worth of equipment, which was stolen from innocent victims and – via Max Wynn and his gang – then modified to hide its identification and sold on to further innocent victims.

“The group’s audacity was staggering, with stolen machinery sold on to unsuspecting buyers locally and as far away as Spain, Sweden and even Australia.

“We welcome these sentences and hope they serve as a warning that we take criminal activity like this very seriously. We will not stand for our rural communities being targeted in this way, leaving innocent people suffering financially and mentally.”

A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing is to take place at a later date.