A mechanic from Dorset has been jailed for four years after a string of offences in the Bournemouth and Poole area.
Appearing at Bournemouth Crown Court, Matthew Gale admitted to six vehicle theft offences between April and July 2022.
Gale’s first victim paid £340 up front for work on his Subaru Impreza but was told that the vehicle had ‘gone missing’. The Impreza was later found at an address in Poole.
His second victim paid £900 up front for work on her Peugeot 207, but was given a range of excuses as to why the work had not been completed. The Peugeot was subsequently found in a worse state than when the customer delivered it to Gale.
The third offence involved a Volkswagen Golf which was scrapped without the owner’s permission. Enquiries by the DVLA led to the owner contacting a vehicle recycling firm in Poole, which confirmed that Gale had presented the Golf for scrap. Gale also scrapped a Ford Transit without the owner’s consent.
The fifth victim was a customer who was told that her Ford S-Max needed a new engine, which Gale offered to do for an initial payment of £500. The car had to be traced by the police after Gale refused to answer the customer’s calls.
Finally, Gale verbally agreed to buy a Mercedes Sprinter advertised on Facebook Marketplace, before driving away without paying during a test drive. The van has not been found.
Detective Constable Steven Davis said: “Matthew Gale is a serial offender who exploited the trust his victims placed in him as a mechanic and simply failed to carry out the work they had paid him for in good faith.
“We are committed to holding offenders such as Gale to account for their criminal activity and we have worked hard to compile evidence to bring before the court so he could face the consequences of his actions.”
Source: Dorset Police
Craig
Why o why would you let someone who looks like that work on your car anyway just saying! 🙈😆