Trio plead guilty to roles in Southport chop shop car thefts

Three men are to be jailed after their roles in stealing more than 80 cars from driveways around Merseyside, including Southport.

Police raided a premises on Canning Road as part of a county wide operation to hunt down a gang of professional car thieves who targeted high value cars on driveways around Southport, Liverpool and St Helens.

Curtis Morrison, Sean Fagan and Daniel Johnston were involved in a plot to steal a whopping 82 cars over six months, before the “high value” vehicles were dismantled at various “chop shops” and sold for parts. Morrison was connected to the operation after he left a bag containing car keys and cannabis at a coffee shop in a caravan park during a series of thefts in North Wales.

The operation ultimately unravelled in the aftermath of a series of raids at premises such as Canning Road, Southport, Hartley’s Village in Aintree, Prescot Road, Lightbody Street, in Vauxhall between 2022 and 2024. Several other stolen vehicles were “found unattended at the roadside”, although Prosecutor Mr Challinor said: “Whether these had been abandoned or left to collect at a later time is unclear.”

Morrison, Fagan and Johnston admitted conspiracy to steal motor vehicles.

Recorder Andrew Ford KC will pass sentencing today, Friday May 1st.