Video: Underworld number plate maker jailed after trying to flee from raiding officers
Daniel Day tried to flee from officers after supplying false number plates to criminal gangs in the West Midlands.
A man who made thousands of number plates to sell to criminals to use on cars involved in crimes ranging from attempted murder to burglaries has today been jailed for more than three years.
Daniel Day, 32, ran the operation from a bedroom at his house in Coronation Road, Tipton, where he had the equipment to make the cloned plates, which he charged £30 a set for.
Day’s jailing is part of Operation Target, which focuses on serious and organised crime in the West Midlands.
His crucial role in the criminal underworld came to light during another investigation into a gang who were using stolen cars to commit vehicle crime in the Black Country.
The gang ordered 94 sets of cloned plates from him in one year.
Police traced the cloned plates used by the gang back to Day, and established how his ‘customers’ would steal cars, then get him to make number plates that matched the make and model while also disguising the cars' true identity.
They even included logos of genuine dealerships.
Detectives found that one set of plates was requested, produced, and then attached to a cloned car – all within the space of 18 minutes.
A surveillance operation revealed how Day, who was known in the underworld as ‘Skell’, would meet with criminal associates in alleyways and disused car parks, travelling by motorbike and hiding the plates in his jacket.
Day’s number plates were used on vehicles involved in more than 140 crimes including:
• An armed robbery at a post office in Dudley
• A shooting in Wolverhampton
• Multiple car key burglaries and bilkings
Police raided his house in May last year. He fled through the back garden and straight into the hands of officers who had been guided in with help from a drone.
In his pocket at the time was his ‘business’ phone, which he used to make the deals. Plate-making equipment and the software used were also found at the property. Day was using a laptop previously owned by a legitimate number plate-making business, which closed down.
Examination of his phone showed that 420 sets of number plates were requested during an eight-week period. It’s believed 7,000 were provided by him over the period.
Day went on to admit perverting the course of justice and possessing criminal property, and was jailed at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday (Monday) for three years and four months.