Summernats grand champion a car thief...

[057GEN]

Very Sad and not so good for the car scene in Australia. :bash:



From The Illawarra Mercury 13/05/2005


http://www.illawarramercury.com/art...5843344923.html

[LSX-438]

maybe try this one

http://www.illawarramercury.com/articles/2005/05/13/1115843344923.html

Show car champ jailed
By LOUISE TURK
May 13, 2005




A DAPTO man regarded as one of Australia's best show car enthusiasts was jailed yesterday for his involvement in an Illawarra-based car rebirthing racket.

John David Ritchie - also known as Dave Ritchie - will spend the next two years and three months behind bars after being convicted of multiple car stealing charges.

The 33-year-old unemployed man was part of a crime syndicate which stole dozens of cars across the Illawarra in 2003. They stripped vehicles and torched them in pre-arranged insurance claims or refitted them with new parts and sold them to unsuspecting buyers.

Wollongong District Court heard that Ritchie, of Barellan Ave, was highly skilled in show car restoration and had won titles in Australia's premier street machine event Summernats.

Ritchie is well known among car enthusiasts for his restoration of a two-tone green 1965 Ford XP Falcon coupe.



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The $150,000 show car, which took five months to rebuild, has taken out numerous awards at a national and state level.

While Ritchie's talents for car restoration earned him praise and recognition for the restored Ford coupe, his skills were also used for criminal activity.

The court heard that Ritchie was part of a car rebirthing racket which included Stephen Fairall, 25, of Dapto; Scott Field, 33 of Dapto; and Terry Peter Stumbles, of Dapto.

Fairall and Field have been sentenced to prison terms this week for their involvement in the racket. Stumbles will be sentenced today.

Yesterday Judge Joe Phelan said Ritchie - along with co-offenders Fairall and Field - had shown a keen interest and flair for all things mechanical, particularly cars.

"None of these gifts have been the subject of any form of formal training...which would have enabled each of them to have gained employment themselves without stealing other people's property," Judge Phelan said, adding that

written reports revealed Ritchie had a history of being easily led by his peers.

"This seems to be a recurrent theme among each of the offenders so far," the Judge Phelan said.

Ritchie pleaded guilty to attempting to steal from a motor vehicle; two counts of concealing a serious indictable offence; stealing a motor vehicle (a motorcycle and trailer); and stealing a motor vehicle (three motorcycles).

"In light of an established criminal record and matters of dishonesty over some years, and the brazen nature of these offences, and losses involved to various people - including the stealing of bikes for children to be used on holidays - means a prison sentence is inevitable," Judge Phelan said.

He sentenced Ritchie to a three-year jail term with a non-parole period of two years and three months. Ritchie also has been ordered to pay a total compensation bill of $9350 to the owners of the stolen motorcycles.

[Devil CV8]

I've been reading about this over at a couple of other forums... He was actually a member over at PF under the nic ROTATR (sp?)

I'm sure he will have plenty of time to reflect on his choices.... Wonder if he has soap on a roap,,, wouldn't want to drop the soap in the showers....

[Venom XR]

Yeah, 5 months to build - on top of an already awesome job the Hilliers did!

[Devil CV8]

Yeah, 5 months to build - on top of an already awesome job the Hilliers did!
but considering he paid for all that with money made from ripping off honest (and maybe dishonest) car owners, he deserves everything he gets and more..

I hope the proceeds of crime act was enacted and he loses everything...

[SSBarney]

He'll only do less than 18 months, and sounds like he's made plenty more than 18 months salary from his activities. No discretion either, will have your kids bikes too!!
Last person i'd want to be associated with! :rolleyes:

[brock05]

i am pretty sure he was a member here aswell, do a search on rotatr and have a look at all his posts, makes very interesting reading knowing what we now know.

[Devil CV8]

i am pretty sure he was a member here aswell, do a search on rotatr and have a look at all his posts, makes very interesting reading knowing what we now know.
Is his account banned then.... If it was voted on I'm sure there would be an overwhelming majority that would vote to ban convicted car thieves, especially those who preyed on other enthusiasts

[HsV_GTS_300]

Is his account banned then.... If it was voted on I'm sure there would be an overwhelming majority that would vote to ban convicted car thieves, especially those who preyed on other enthusiasts

Also the fact that alot of his posts were in the classifieds section and in most cases selling parts/cars make you wounder wether these parts were acquired illegally? and sold.

[vh-holden]

i couldn't find a rotatr in the member list.....

[VooDoo]

http://www.ls1.com.au/forum/member.php?u=2222

[myles]

Thieves come in all shapes and forms.

What a shame someone who has a supposed love for cars felt no remorse for stealing another's pride and joy, continually.

They might be on-trial for stealing X number of vehicles but one can only think of the 'actual' real number of vehicles stolen authorities aren't aware of.

With forum access usually showing photos of other members' cars and their location, I wouldn't be surprised if he/others used the forums as a source to gather information for stealing.

[VX2VESS]

i recall a lot of post for sale by him here.

a complete interior once i was interested in but he never got back

[ORIGINL]

Typical Dapto. ( i grew up about 5 minutes away)

"rotatr" was acutally the number plates on his TA22 Celica which was 13b turbo, tubbed and a very nice car.

Unfortunately Wollongong has a history of these things happening. If you go into the mountains you will find "pits" of cars that have been stolen/stripped and dumped off a cliff.

[SV8VY]

Its a real shame people like this are giving the car enthusiasts a bad name.
How can honest people compete for car shows etc if the thieves have ample cash and resources.
I say sell everything he has and donate to charity.

[Devil CV8]

account suspended..........

you have to feel sorry for anyone who purchased parts or cars off him as there is a good chance they were stolen, and a visit by the police to recover them is on the cards..