A "leading" Chiswick BMW salesman who helped a man from Ealing steal cars worth more than £200,000 has been jailed for five years.

Michael Daniels, 40, gave Alex Tingle, 28, the spare keys to the brand new luxury cars his dealership had just sold.

Daniels abused his position as head of sales at BMW Berry, in Chiswick , to access customer addresses on a database and passed them on to Tingle.

Tingle, of Claremont Road, Ealing and his accomplice Vincent Murphy then drove to the address with the spare set of keys, unlocked the car and calmly drove off.

Murphy was jailed for 16 months earlier this year after admitting to aggravated vehicle taking.

One of the victims, Robert Mitchell missed the birth of his daughter as he was unable to make it to the hospital after their car was taken on Christmas Eve.

Vincent Murphy was Tingle's accomplice who drove to the addresses with the spare set of keys, unlocked the car and calmly drove off.

The trio made off with nine cars worth a combined total of £210,000 over six weeks, between December 2015 and February 2016.

The cars were given fake number plates and deposited to a mysterious figure known as "Ali" in a car park in Alperton , northwest London, where they disappeared.

Another victim, Nouman Hashmi said the theft had left him and his wife with sleepless nights.

They were unable to sell their house after potential buyers found out about the car theft on a crime database, the court heard.

Tingle was jailed for two years for his involvement but will be immediately released having already spent 13 months in custody.

Daniels had worked his way up to become head salesman at BMW Berry in affluent Chiswick, the court heard.

He had worked there for ten years, while raising a family with two young daughters in Surrey.

Daniels choked back the tears before sobbing when Judge Simon Davis described him as a "good father".

Alex Tingle, 28, of Claremont Road, Ealing, admitted conspiracy to steal motor vehicles and was jailed for two years.

Judge Davis said it was a "horrendous breach of trust" and told him: "This was a conspiracy to steal high value motor cars from the BMW dealership in Chiswick.

"The value of those cars was in excess of £200,000.

"You were both partners in this conspiracy.

"They were stolen from people's houses once they had been sold.

"It's affected Mr Hashmi and his wife.

"There were real repercussions for each of them.

"You worked your way up, your were a good salesmen, the leading salesman.

"We will never know why you decided to get into this criminal enterprise.

"You have children who will miss you."

Daniels might have got away with his crimes had his accomplice not come clean after being caught, the court heard.

Police found CCTV of a BMW being stolen from a warehouse and identified Tingle.

Tingle immediately confessed and told police he had been given the keys by Daniels, who had orchestrated the plot from his sales office.

The pair met at Daniels' dealership, and initially struck up a legitimate business relationship, with Tingle acting as an intermediary for some of Daniels' sales.

"Mr Daniels was employed at the Berry BMW dealership in Chiswick in the sales department," said prosecutor Ben Holt.

"He progressed to sales executive by the time the conspiracy was in action.

"He was providing a kit to Alex Tingle, which involved the keys and details of the victims, including the customers home address.

"Tingle and Murphy drove to the address with the keys and then drove away.

"Nine vehicles were stolen in total, to a value of £210,000.

"Daniels played a leading role as part of group activity he was in close contact with Tingle during the thefts of the vehicles.

"He was using a computer to obtain personal details about customers and steal the keys."

Both had no previous convictions and were described in court as devoted family men.

Family members of the pair wept as they were both led away from the dock.

Daniels, of Courtfield Road, Ashford, Surrey, was given five years and three months after he was convicted of conspiracy to steal motor vehicles.

Tingle admitted conspiracy to steal motor vehicles and was jailed for two years.

Tingle also received two months concurrent for possession of Class A drugs.

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