A CARAVAN thief was apprehended on the M4 using a fake number plate secured with hair ties after raiding a site near Tenby, Swansea Crown Court heard on Tuesday.

Martin Fitzgerald, part of a gang involved in the theft of two caravans from Well Park Caravan Park in New Hedges, was arrested nearly two years after being caught for a similar crime in Wiltshire.

Prosecutor Craig Jones described how police were called to Westlands Lane in Melksham, Wiltshire, on January 29, 2022, around 10.40pm, after the part-owner of a site spotted a car leaving with a Baileys Unicorn caravan. “The site had been accessed via an orchard and a fence had been driven through,” Mr. Jones stated.

Police spotted Fitzgerald towing the caravan with a Nissan X-Trail on the M4, heading towards Bristol, and later the M5. Upon stopping him, they found the car’s registration did not match the vehicle and discovered cutting equipment inside.

On the afternoon of December 11 last year, the owner of Well Park Caravan Park in New Hedges reported two vehicles entering the site and a group of “six to eight” men hitching two caravans to them. Fitzgerald drove away in a Skoda with a Coachman caravan valued at £32,000, while a Kia made off with a £25,000 caravan.

Police stopped Fitzgerald on the M4 at a service station outside Cardiff. He was found driving without a licence or insurance, and the Skoda had a fake number plate secured with hair ties, covering another fake plate. Officers also found bolt cutters, jump leads, a wheel brace, towing wing mirrors, and another number plate.

Fitzgerald was disqualified from driving at the time and was on bail for the previous caravan theft. He admitted theft for the first incident, two offences of attempted theft, going equipped for theft, two offences of fraudulent use of a registration mark, driving while disqualified, and driving without insurance for the second incident.

Dan Griffiths, defending, described Fitzgerald as “an isolated, lonely individual who was struggling for money.” He emphasized that given Fitzgerald’s limitations, it was unlikely he planned the thefts and that he had agreed to tow the vehicles for a small amount of money, marking an escalation in the seriousness of his offending.

Judge Geraint Walters sentenced Fitzgerald to 10 months for the Wiltshire theft and a total of 12 months for the Pembrokeshire offences. He also banned Fitzgerald from driving for 17 months.