Suffolk man jailed after damaging and shooting at open car windows
63-year-old Adrian Ling's accused of shooting an air rifle from a the window of a passing car, shattering windows and damaging body work
A 63-year-old man has been jailed following a string of criminal damage offences against an Ellough-based taxi and private vehicle hire company.
Adrian LingAdrian Ling, of Woodside in Brampton, appeared at Ipswich Crown Court today, Friday 1 March 2024, where he was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment for conspiring to commit criminal damage and four counts of possession of a firearm with criminal intent. Ling had denied conspiring to commit criminal damage to property belonging to Goldline Travel but was found guilty, alongside his co-defendant Daniel Garrison, on 1 November 2023, following a two-month trial.
Garrison, of Danforth Drive in Framlingham, is due to be sentenced at a later date.
The court heard that Ling had worked as a mechanic for Goldline Travel before he was dismissed in 2012, following which a significant number of criminal damage incidents against company vehicles were reported to police.
The charges against Ling and Garrison relate to incidents that occurred between 4 March 2013 and 18 May 2019. During these dates, police received 83 reports of criminal damage against Goldline property and company vehicles.
Taxis were predominantly followed and shot at with an air rifle from the open window of a passing car, shattering windows and damaging bodywork. Metal cylinder projectiles were sometimes recovered from either within the vehicle, or in the vicinity following the incident. On four occasions taxis were targeted while carrying passengers, causing no injury. Separately, on one occasion, a driver was injured by a projectile.
Other offences included corrosive fluid poured over vehicles, wing mirrors smashed and tyres punctured or slashed. In total, the series of offences resulted in almost £136,000 in damages.
Police conducted a number of enquiries, which included reviewing CCTV footage, ANPR footage, analysis of phone cell location data and mobile phone data, as well as victim and witness statements which subsequently led to Ling and Garrison’s arrests.
Following extensive police enquiries it became evident that the Ling and Garrison were acquiring vehicles and using cloned registration plates in an attempt to avoid detection.
On 20 January 2016 Garrison bought a second-hand red Ford Focus which he registered under a false name to an address at Boasts Industrial Estate in Beccles.
A red Ford Focus was then captured on CCTV in the vicinity of several incidents of criminal damage against Goldline Travel vehicles, displaying a cloned registration plate. Crucially, Garrison had sent Ling a text message with the cloned registration number prior to these incidents occurring.
On 15 April 2016 CCTV cameras at Moors Industrial Estate in Ellough captured a red Ford Focus displaying the cloned plates drive onto the site. The footage showed the vehicle driving slowly past a Goldline Travel taxi, turn around and pass the taxi again following which the rear offside window shattered and the Ford Focus drove off at high speed. Although no projectile was found, it is believed the vehicle was shot at with an air rifle.
Garrison posted the red Ford Focus to a social media selling site, using its original registration plates and, on 28 April 2016, an officer contacted Garrison to arrange a viewing at Boasts Industrial Estate. He did not disclose his identity and attended the industrial estate, out of uniform, with a colleague where Garrison and Ling were seen in conversation together, confirming the pair were associates. Ling left soon after.
Police units arrived and Garrison was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage. His phone was seized, which contained an unsent message to Ling with a vehicle registration number. The Police National Computer (PNC) confirmed this to be the registration details of a red Ford Focus. Enquiries established the vehicle was registered and insured by someone with no connection to Garrison or Ling, indicating it was another cloned registration number that they intended to use to disguise the true identity of the vehicle carrying out crimes against Goldline Travel.
On 24 June 2016 an off-duty police officer travelling on Banham Road in Beccles witnessed Garrison driving a small blue vehicle behind a Goldline Travel taxi near Coney Hill. The officer recognised Garrison as the driver and witnessed a man he could not identify crouched down in the back-passenger seat. The vehicle was a blue Ford KA.
Enquiries later established the registration details had been cloned.
On 2 July 2016 a blue Ford KA was captured on CCTV following an incident of criminal damage against a Goldline Travel taxi near London Road in Beccles.
Two days later, on 4 July 2016, police responded to a report of an apparently abandoned VW Golf in Barsham. On arrival the responding officer noticed a blue Ford KA parked outside an address associated with Ling. The officer ran the vehicle inspection number (VIN) on the PNC and found it related to a similar make and model vehicle with a different registration number.
The Ford KA was seized by police and examined. Enquiries established it had been sold to Ling via a social media selling site, who then disguised the true identity of the vehicle with a cloned plate.
On 21 September 2016 Ling and Garrison were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit criminal damage.
Their home addresses and vehicles were searched and multiple items were seized, including two air rifles, metal wheel bearings, tapered rollers believed to be the projectiles used as ammunition to fire from air rifles, mobile phones and a cloned registration plate which matched the markings seen on the cloned Ford KA registration plate seized from Barsham.
Two shortwave radio scanners were also seized, suggesting the pair had used these to covertly monitor communications between Goldline Travel call dispatchers and taxi drivers. This would allow Ling and Garrison to know the location of taxis to target.
Following these initial arrests, detectives continued to conduct numerous enquiries and gather evidence which ultimately led to both defendants being charged in connection with the offences.
Detective Constable Andrew Thawley who led the investigation said: “This has been a long and complicated investigation with Ling and Garrison taking many steps to try to conceal their crimes against Goldline Travel.
“Extensive enquiries were carried out and, ultimately, the evidence gathered from sources including CCTV, ANPR, forensic analysis (DNA and firearms), communications data, mobile phone records and witness testimony, presented a compelling case linking them to the incidents.
“This investigation reflects a considerable level of teamwork and I would like to give credit to the work done by officers from Beccles Safer Neighbourhood Team in particular.”