Gang of professional car thieves jailed
A gang of three Liverpool men who worked together to steal high-value “keyless” cars from residential addresses have been jailed.
Sean Fagan, 31, Whitney Road, Woolton, Daniel Johnston, 37, of Ingrave Road, Walton, and Curtis Morrison, 31, of Sparrow Hall Road, Walton, conspired together to steal almost £1.5 million worth of cars in Merseyside, Cheshire, Lancashire and North Wales from April to October 2022.
The gang were professional car thieves who used devices known as automatic key programmers that allow blank remote keys to be programmed to unlock and start a particular vehicle.
The devices are used legitimately by locksmiths but the gang used them to steal 81 cars over the period of the investigation.
The gang worked mainly at night and would locate a vehicle, programme a blank key and then unlock and drive the car away, usually from the driveway of the owner’s house.
The vehicles were often taken to so-called “chop shops” – small units where a mechanic would take the cars apart and the various parts would be sold on the black market.
Officers from Merseyside Police recovered many of the vehicles from these units around Liverpool and Southport.
The gang’s offending was established through forensic evidence, CCTV, number plate recognition, call data and cell site analysis.
Fagan and Morrison began the operation in April 2022 and Johnston joined them in July.
By September 2022, the gang’s operation had spread to North Wales, where Morrison organised the theft of five cars.
However, he accidentally left a bag in a coffee shop at the Robin Hood Holiday Camp in Rhyl. Staff opened the bag and discovered a large number of car keys and a quantity of cannabis.
The police were called and discovered 45 car keys and a key programming device along with a car battery.
In October 2022, police responded to a call about a stolen car seen in Fazakerley. They attended and Sean Fagan was seen nearby. He was stopped and found to be carrying two cloned car keys and black gloves.
Johnston was arrested ten days later near the scene of a crashed stolen car in Fazakerley in Liverpool.
Morrison was arrested after officers attended the house of his girlfriend in the Walton area of Liverpool after a car believed to be stolen was reported nearby.
Morrison’s house was then searched and the gang’s equipment, including cloned keys, false number plates and a knuckle duster were found.
All three men were charged with conspiracy to steal motor cars. They pleaded guilty on 14 February 2025 and on 2 May 2025 at Liverpool Crown Court, they were sentenced.
Curtis Morrison was jailed for five years, Sean Fagan was jailed for five years and Daniel Johnston, was jailed for two years and nine months.
Senior Crown Prosecutor Mairead Neeson, of CPS Mersey-Cheshire, said: “These men caused considerable upset, anxiety and fear to the victims they targeted.
“They operated at night with cloned keys so that the first the victims knew of the thefts was when they discovered the cars were gone in the morning.
“Many talked of feeling violated, knowing the thieves had been on their property and stolen their cars along with the items they contained, many of which were needed either for work or family use or had sentimental value.
“The gang thought they were invincible and their operation spread over a wider area as the months went on. Yet each of them eventually committed a foolish mistake that led to their arrest.
“The Crown Prosecution Service would like to thank Merseyside Police for the extensive investigation which led to this prosecution and also the recovery of many vehicles."