Car thieves jailed after police tracked them down with wireless earphones

Two thieves have each been sentenced to 18 months in prison after officers tracked them down using wireless earphones left in the car they stole.

Henry Phillips and Lee Plant shared text messages planning their crime the day before stealing a luxury SUV from an address in Rainham.

At 8.47pm on 21 January 2023, the offenders attended a property on Miers Court Road with a black Land Rover Discovery parked outside.

The theft took less than 2 minutes.

At this moment, Plant was captured on CCTV wearing a hi-vis vest, which later became a point of evidence to demonstrate his involvement.

The Volvo V70 the men arrived in, left in convoy with the Land Rover.

Shortly after, Kent Police received a report of a man driving the stolen vehicle while wearing a balaclava and officers made their way to the scene.

Tracked

Following initial enquiries, constables identified that the victim had left their earphones in the car and used the live location facility on the victim's phone to track where Plant and Phillips had travelled to.

Detectives followed the trail to Surrey Road and Camp Way in Maidstone. They arrested Plant at the former location, where they seized the hi-vis vest and a mobile phone, and arrested Phillips at the latter.

A review of Plant's device revealed a message, sent to Phillips at 2.27am on 20 January, saying 'Give me a call in the morning or tonight. Got a little remission for us tomorrow night on our doorstep. You'll like it.'

Sentenced

Both men were later charged with theft of a motor vehicle and pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court, where they were sentenced on Thursday 1 October 2026.

Investigating officer, Detective Constable Paul Marsh, said:

'Thanks to officers' innovative use of modern technology, we were able to track two criminals from the scene of a crime to their home addresses and swiftly arrest them. 'The defendants initially tried to deny the offence but were forced to plead guilty after being confronted with the overwhelming evidence of their involvement.'