Telford woman cleared in conspiracy case
A woman from Telford has been cleared of being involved with her boyfriend in a plot to steal expensive cars.
Jennifer Louise Ings was also found not guilty of concealing stolen vehicles in a rented garage near her home.
The 24-year-old wept as the jury returned the unanimous not guilty verdicts at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday (MON) following an eight-day trial.
Ings, a utility manager for a recycling company in Telford, had denied being part of the conspiracy to steal cars between July 2012 and September last year
She had also denied that she had allowed boyfriend Jangheer Khan to store stolen cars in a garage she rented from Wrekin Housing Trust.
Ings, of Highway View in Arleston, Wellington, and formerly of St Matthews Road, Donnington, had told the jury she felt betrayed when she discovered that Khan was running a car-ringing operation.
She said she had rented the garage close to her Donnington home in February last year when she had a car.
Ings said that she had trusted 30-year-old Khan and had let him use the garage, but did not know he had it to hide cars.
The jury heard that Ings and Khan had both been convicted of "clocking" cars in 2007 when she was working at a garage in Telford.
But she told the court she had admitted what she had done on that occasion, but this time she was not guilty.
"It ruined my life and there was so much turmoil. I have worked hard to rebuild my life and don't want to let it be ruined again," she said.
The court heard that Khan had access to the keys for the rented garage a short distance from Ings flat in St Matthews Road and he also had access to her laptop computer.
While she and Khan were filmed by police driving a rebuilt BMW car, she said she had no idea it had been repaired with parts from stolen cars.
During the trial the prosecution said the car-ringing gang had legitimately acquired accident damaged cars, which were later rebuilt at a unit on an industrial estate in Shifnal using parts from dozens of stolen cars.
Khan, and three other men, have all pleaded guilty to being involved in the conspiracy and two other men have admitted conspiring to handle stolen car parts. They are all awaiting sentence.
