snapperdan
09-02-2010, 07:40 PM
http://www.smh.com.au/national/thieves-jailed-for-scheme-to-sell-leisure-boats-20100208-nnbb.html
T WAS a warm day in November 2006 when Graeme White answered a phone call from his neighbour. ''Have you loaned your boat to a friend, mate? I just saw it being driven down the road."
With a sinking heart Mr White realised his fishing boat had been stolen. Police told him he would be lucky to see it again.
Mr White would be the first of nine boat owners to fall victim to the simple yet brazen scam of Ricky Jason Lawson, a chef and private in the army, and his friend Stefan Murphy.
Over the next 12 months they would hire four-wheel-drive vehicles and trawl Sydney streets looking for recreational boats before hooking them to the towbar and driving them away.
The pair would take them to a property in Kenthurst where identification such as registration and hull numbers would be removed. The boats were then towed to Queensland for sale at auction.
By September 2007, they had netted more than $125,000 for the sale of five boats.
Once the boats had been taken to Queensland, Lawson would apply for new hull identification numbers and Murphy would arrange new hull plates.
Their downfall began with a minor detail missed. On a Stejcraft half-cabin cruiser that was stolen in Parramatta, they mistakenly attached a hull plate identifying the boat as a "Bowrider".
The discrepancy came to the attention of the boat owner and when a marine dealer made inquiries about the engine number, it was discovered the vessel had been stolen in NSW.
Murphy was sentenced to a maximum of 20 months in prison and gave evidence against Lawson, who was sentenced last week to a maximum of 5½ years in jail. Both men, aged 35, blamed a gambling addiction for the crime.
Police recovered several boats from DE4 Auctioneers in Rocklea, Queensland, and from unsuspecting buyers.
Colin Tannahill, whose $25,000 SouthWind fibreglass boat was stolen from outside his home, said the ''cheap padlock'' he had on the trailer clearly left the vessel vulnerable to theft. He now has a wheel clamp on the trailer.
Having worked in the marine industry, Mr Tannahill said all boat engines were registered on marine databases showing the boat it belonged to and who had bought it. "It doesn't matter how many times ownership changes, that information is there for life," he said.
The general manager of the Boating Industry Association, Roy Privett, said NSW, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia offered free REVS (Register of Encumbered Vehicles) checks to help buyers of second-hand boats confirm their previous ownership.
T WAS a warm day in November 2006 when Graeme White answered a phone call from his neighbour. ''Have you loaned your boat to a friend, mate? I just saw it being driven down the road."
With a sinking heart Mr White realised his fishing boat had been stolen. Police told him he would be lucky to see it again.
Mr White would be the first of nine boat owners to fall victim to the simple yet brazen scam of Ricky Jason Lawson, a chef and private in the army, and his friend Stefan Murphy.
Over the next 12 months they would hire four-wheel-drive vehicles and trawl Sydney streets looking for recreational boats before hooking them to the towbar and driving them away.
The pair would take them to a property in Kenthurst where identification such as registration and hull numbers would be removed. The boats were then towed to Queensland for sale at auction.
By September 2007, they had netted more than $125,000 for the sale of five boats.
Once the boats had been taken to Queensland, Lawson would apply for new hull identification numbers and Murphy would arrange new hull plates.
Their downfall began with a minor detail missed. On a Stejcraft half-cabin cruiser that was stolen in Parramatta, they mistakenly attached a hull plate identifying the boat as a "Bowrider".
The discrepancy came to the attention of the boat owner and when a marine dealer made inquiries about the engine number, it was discovered the vessel had been stolen in NSW.
Murphy was sentenced to a maximum of 20 months in prison and gave evidence against Lawson, who was sentenced last week to a maximum of 5½ years in jail. Both men, aged 35, blamed a gambling addiction for the crime.
Police recovered several boats from DE4 Auctioneers in Rocklea, Queensland, and from unsuspecting buyers.
Colin Tannahill, whose $25,000 SouthWind fibreglass boat was stolen from outside his home, said the ''cheap padlock'' he had on the trailer clearly left the vessel vulnerable to theft. He now has a wheel clamp on the trailer.
Having worked in the marine industry, Mr Tannahill said all boat engines were registered on marine databases showing the boat it belonged to and who had bought it. "It doesn't matter how many times ownership changes, that information is there for life," he said.
The general manager of the Boating Industry Association, Roy Privett, said NSW, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia offered free REVS (Register of Encumbered Vehicles) checks to help buyers of second-hand boats confirm their previous ownership.