Masked raiders jailed for targeting cars in North Yorkshire

Ryan Wilkinson, 25, of St Edwins Drive, Dunscroft; Cyle Jenkins, 23, of Princess Avenue, Stainforth; and Adrian Askin, 28, of Poplar Road, Skellow, were locked up at Sheffield Crown Court today (November 21) after targeting high-value cars in North Yorkshire.

All three defendants were charged with and pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated burglary, one burglary, and two counts of theft of a motor vehicle.

Wilkinson was sentenced to nine years and four months, Askin was sentenced to ten years, and Jenkins was sentenced nine years and four months.

The men were convicted following a joint investigation by North Yorkshire Police, Humberside Police, and South Yorkshire Police.

Their first offence took place just after 11.30pm on October 21, 2024 in Camblesforth, North Yorkshire, where three masked men threatened to force entry into a house after banging on the door claiming to be police.

After getting inside, they assaulted the victim in front of her elderly mother and demanded the key to her Audi RS3.

Whilst the raiders were able to find her keys and start the car, the victim refused to give them the immobiliser code – despite being punched in the face. They smashed her mobile phone and took the landline, before they fled empty-handed.

She managed to alert a neighbour, who contacted police.

The following evening, the group struck again in the Gilberdyke area of East Yorkshire and the Carlton area of North Yorkshire.

Humberside Police were alerted to the first burglary after the victim discovered that their back door lock has been forcibly removed, the blinds drawn back, and the car keys were stolen, along with their new Volkswagen Golf R.

In Carlton, the victim was awoken just after 2.30am by his dog barking and when he entered his kitchen, he was confronted by a masked man armed with a crowbar and firearm – who had broken in by damaging the lock on the side door to the house. 

The intruder threatened to shoot him and kill his dog if he didn’t hand over his car keys – also for a new Volkswagen Golf R. The victim later discovered it was his own airgun used to threaten him.

The stolen vehicles were then tracked travelling in convoy on false numberplates and heading towards Austerfield, Doncaster. A police stinger was deployed.

Despite driving on deflated tires and the car’s rims, the vehicle got away before it was found in a housing estate in Lindholme, Doncaster, after a member of public reported seeing men hiding in a hot tub. 

Two of the men – Wilkinson and Askin – were tracked to a garden by a police dog unit where they were found soaking wet, hiding under a hot tub lid, while Jenkins was discovered concealed in a trailer in the same garden.

Despite providing no comment during interviews, the three suspects were charged and later pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary in Carlton, burglary in Gilberdyke, and two counts of theft of a motor vehicle, and were remanded in custody. 

Forensic evidence also matched the suspects’ trainers, providing crucial evidence that led to an additional charge of aggravated burglary, and the third suspect, Wilkinson, was linked to the aggravated burglary at Camblesforth after CCTV footage identified from his limp.