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30 July 2012



Man Caught with Stolen Digger

A Luton man was jailed for 12 months on Monday 30 July, after being caught with a stolen mini digger and cherry picker.

Mark Kiff when the police in Hertfordshire stopped a Polish lorry containing stolen plant.

The officers were directed to a unit on a farm near Luton that Kiff was renting and £24,000 of plant was recovered, St Albans crown court heard.

Neil King, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "The police gained a search warrant and went to a farm unit at Whitehill Farm belonging to the defendant on 4 December last year. The plant had been stolen from sites in October and November."

Kiff, 29, of Blackthorn Drive, Luton pleaded guilty to money laundering between 11 August and 5 December last year. He had been due to stand trial but changed his plea to guilty.

Defence barrister Kieran Vaughan QC said Kiff did not know the plant was stolen but believed it had been. He asked for sentence to be adjourned so that Kiff could get his affairs in order.

But Judge Martyn Zeidman QC refused saying he did no want to prolong Kiff's agony. He told him: "It must have been manifestly obvious the goods were stolen."

Please note - All of the court copies are provided by South Beds News Agency, who retain the copyright© for all articles published.

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