Dodgy mechanic jailed for selling stolen car parts from Leeds garage
Parts from cars stolen as a far as Scotland were found online
A Leeds garage owner has been jailed after he was caught selling car parts that had been stolen in burglaries from as far away as Scotland.
Police were able to trace components from high-performance vehicles to the premises in Armley, which were rented by Zeshan Yasir.
Leeds Crown Court previously heard that the 24-year-old former student had a bright future, but was back before a judge this week where he admitted four charges of handling stolen goods involving around a dozen stolen cars.
Officers in Scotland contacted West Yorkshire Police in November last year concerning the burglary weeks prior in which a BMW X3 was taken.
Parts were being advertised on Facebook Marketplace, with the address listed as the garage on Cecil Road, prosecutor Lily Wildman told the court.
Local officers attended and found parts from that car, along parts from a stolen BMW M3 and more than 11 other stolen vehicles.
Yasir was identified as the person responsible for renting the building. He was arrested the next day and had £1,000 cash on him.
He accepted responsibility for having the stolen parts but said he was a mechanic who bought parts from auctions.
Yasir, of Burley Wood Mount, Burley has three previous convictions for six offences, including drug dealing while he was a “high-performing” student, for which he received a suspended sentence.
Mitigating for this latest offences, Mohammed Rafiq said there was no evidence linking him to the burglaries.
Mr Rafiq said: “His lesson has been learned having spent seven months in custody that he has to behave himself.
“He wants to move on with his life.”
Judge Kate Rayfield told Yasir: “Ultimately, I must impose a sentence of immediate custody. Without people willing to receive goods taken in burglaries, people would not have the motivation to commit these burglaries.
“That’s why it’s so serious. This was not a one-off.”
She handed him a 20-month jail sentence.