Prolific burglar jailed again after replica Ferraris stolen in Brighouse raid

Michael Jefferson, 29, and his accomplice travelled to the premises of Performance Porsche on Bradford Road last October after targeting the two vehicles which were each worth around £60,000.

During a “determined” attack they broke into a temporary building, forced an alarm off the wall and broke into various other cars before moving them out of the way.

Prosecutor Giles Grant told Bradford Crown Court today (Friday) that it took the burglars some time to move the vehicles before they could steal the replica 250 GTOs.

He said the damage caused that night had affected three businesses and the “hot-wiring” of the Ferraris cost £1,000 to repair.

Mr Grant said the Ferraris only had a limited amount of fuel in them and they were driven around the area until they ran out of petrol.

“When they were dumped, after running out of petrol, CCTV in the area showed two men walking round the vehicles taking photographs,” added Mr Grant.

Jefferson, who is understood to be from the Bradford area, pleaded guilty to that burglary and also admitted three other break-ins at homes in Lightcliffe and Hipperholme.

The court heard that during those three night-time burglaries the occupiers were at home asleep and some of them were disturbed by the sound of the intruders breaking in.

Mr Grant said in one of the burglaries the intruders stole the keys to two vehicles parked outside and both cars were driven off.

Jefferson, who was still on licence after having being jailed for four burglary offences in February 2012, was linked to the crimes after police officers used cell-site analysis of his mobile phone to track his movements.

Glass fragments found in his clothing were also found to match a broken pane at one of the Lightcliffe break-ins.

Judge Peter Benson was told that Jefferson had also served lengthy prison sentences in 2007 and 2009 for dozens of burglaries.

Jefferson’s barrister Rebecca Young said he had expressed genuine insight into his offending and the consequences for the victims and he wanted to apologise personally to the victims using the restorative justice scheme.

She explained that he had got in with the wrong crowd from a young age, but he was now highly motivated to change and move away from the area.

Judge Benson jailed Jefferson for 20 months in respect of the burglary at the car premises and added a further three years behind bars for the house break-ins.

“You have a truly horrendous record for committing burglaries which stretches back a number of years now,” the judge told Jefferson, who was handcuffed to a security officer throughout the proceedings.

Jailing Jefferson for 56 months, the judge said the attack on the car dealership had been pre-planned and determined and had involved the wearing of hoods as well the movement of other vehicles to get at the high value Ferraris.