A gang who stole 33 Land Rover Defenders sentenced!

A gang who stole 33 Land Rover Defenders sentenced!

A gang of men who stole 33 Land Rover Defenders across six police force areas have been sentenced to a total of 15 years and 9 months at court today (Friday 18 September).

The four were each convicted of conspiracy to commit theft of vehicles between September 2024 and May 2025, relating to the thefts of 34 vehicles including the Land Rovers that were worth more than £600,000 from the West Mercia, Gloucestershire, Dyfed Powys, Sussex, Avon & Somerset and Devon & Cornwall force areas.

Three of the men changed their pleas to guilty at a trial at Hereford Crown Court that concluded today and were convicted and sentenced as follows: -

- Leonard Hodgkins, 50, of Marlborough Gardens, Malvern – Four years and nine months.

- Jimmy Butler, 41, of Pershore Lane, Hindlip – Three years and eight months.

- Benjamin Hobbs, 35, of Beesmoor Road, Bristol - Four years and four months.

A fourth man - David Hodgkins, 40 of The Furlong, Powick - pleaded guilty to the same charges on Monday 8 December 2025. He was also sentenced today to three years.

The gang targeted the high value Land Rover Defenders over an eight-month period, stealing them from Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, Suckley in Worcestershire, Malvern, Bromyard, Droitwich, Hartpury in Gloucestershire, Storridge in Herefordshire, Newent in Gloucestershire, Norton in Worcestershire, Bath, Cheltenham, Bredon in Gloucestershire, Leominster, Tenbury Wells, Churchstoke in Powys, Kingsland in Herefordshire and Clyro in Powys between September 2024 and May 2025.

An investigation called Operation Liondale was launched by West Mercia Police following the arrest of Jimmy Butler in November 2025. During his arrest, distinctive items of clothing seen in CCTV of the suspects committing the offences were found in Butler’s caravan.

His co-conspirators were arrested on 11 November 2025 and mobile phones seized from them corroborated they used them when they travelled in convoy with the stolen vehicles and the mission vehicles, which included a blue Toyota Yaris and, later, a red VW Golf.

Hobbs owned a workshop in Bristol that was used as a ‘chop shop’ - an illegal enterprise that deals in stolen car parts - where the stolen Land Rovers were taken by the other conspirators.

Parts from the stolen cars, documents and a jacket from one of the vehicles were found by officers in the chop shop - some of which were identified by the owners or confirmed by using the keys in the "bulkheads" of the vehicles. ANPR and phone forensics linked Holmes and Hobbs and their business to the other conspirators and the stolen vehicles.

Detective Sergeant Mark Jones of Hereford Reactive CID, who was the lead investigator for Op Liondale, said: “This was a complex but ultimately successful investigation that tracked down and prosecuted this gang of car thieves, so we are pleased to get these sentences today as their criminality harmed many people in our force area and neighbouring forces too.

“We know it often seems like car thieves get away with it, but we hope this result shows we will always work hard to bring these offenders before the courts and try to halt the impact their actions have on our communities.”

Left photo - four defendants and right photo - (Clockwise from top left) The bulkhead from a Land Rover Defender in the ‘chop shop’; Jimmy Butler on CCTV at a petrol station; Butler filling up the stolen VW Golf; one of the stolen Land Rovers and one of the Defenders in the ‘chop shop’.