Meopham criminal jailed after stolen cars and guns found at home in Beechwood Gardens
14:42, 23 October 2020
updated: 15:05, 23 October 2020
A thief led police directly to his front door when detectives found a stolen Land Rover on his driveway and a stash of weapons inside his home.
Hapless Phillip Bailey, from Meopham , has today been jailed after pleading guilty to 11 charges.
The moment police arrest Bailey and raid his Meopham home
The 32-year-old was arrested on April 7 when a black Land Rover Defender – reported missing from an address in London the day before – was located outside his home in Beechwood Gardens.
Officers searching his property found six guns and multiple rounds of ammunition hidden inside the house along with drugs, cash and eight expensive Rolex watches.
Bailey admitted the charges and has been locked up for 10 years and 10 months after sentencing at Woolwich Crown Court.
Police have now released bodycam footage of the moment Bailey was arrested and the search through his property which took place after his arrest.
The criminal was discovered because the Land Rover he stole from east London was fitted with a tracking device.
Officers managed to locate the vehicle outside Bailey's home and found it had been fitted with false number plates. They also found evidence the car had been hot wired.
Police also found a Range Rover parked near to his address which had also been fitted with fake plates. The vehicle had been reported stolen from Greenhithe in December.
The subsequent search of his home found a safe in the basement which contained four loaded guns and five watches.
A second safe was found in the spare bedroom containing two more handguns.
Three more Rolex watches were also found throughout the house, 50 bullets in a bedroom cupboard and £5,000 cash in the back garden.
Detectives from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate launched an investigation and charged Bailey with six counts of possessing a prohibited firearm, three counts of possessing ammunition without a certificate, possessing criminal property and conspiring to steal motor vehicles.
Det Con Terry Hanlon said: "Bailey was caught red-handed with two stolen vehicles on his driveway and has since been linked to a wider conspiracy to steal a number of other vehicles from across the South East.
"It is also evident from this case that he had access to a number of very dangerous weapons capable of causing death or serious injury to others.
"Law-abiding members of the public do not keep six handguns hidden inside their home, and those people who can afford to buy eight Rolex watches are usually able to explain where the money for them came from.
"Kent Police is committed to tackling serious and organised crime, and ensuring illegally-held firearms are removed from the streets and destroyed so they cannot be used to commit other offences or cause fear of violence.
"Bailey will now be subject to a separate financial investigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act to ensure he cannot continue to benefit from his criminal activities once he is eventually released from prison."
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