A FARMER and motor dealer has been convicted of three charges of handling stolen goods - and been warned he could go to jail.

Maurice Little, 63, was found guilty at the end of one of the longest trials to be heard at Burnley Crown Court.

Afterwards, the police officer in charge of the case warned other car crooks - "beware, we are on your tails".

Little, of Old Hall Square, Worsthorne, was cleared of two further handling charges and one of obtaining property by deception.

He was remanded on bail until April 19 for a pre-sentence report by Judge David Pirie.

Little's son, Adam, 34, of Brunshaw Avenue, Burnley, earlier admitted one handling charge, near the end of the three-and-a-half week trial. He was also bailed to await sentence with his father.

Maurice and Adam Little had originally been charged with a total of 18 allegations and were said by Jeremy Grout-Smith, prosecuting, to have been "car ringing" or dealing in stolen vehicles from two secluded farmhouses at Cliviger, Burnley.

Father-of-five Maurice, a former brewery owner and coal company boss, and Adam, a delivery driver, told the jury they both bought and sold cars but denied any involvement with stolen cars.

After the verdicts, Detective Constable John Massheder, of Lancashire's Major Crime Unit, Stolen Vehicles, said he was satisfied with the result after a long investigation.

He said: "If people are actively involved in auto crime in the county, there is a very good chance we are aware of them and investigating them.

"We anticipate a number of similar cases in the future."

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