Car-ringer's Telford girlfriend 'did not know vehicles were stolen'
A Telford woman, whose boyfriend was the leader of a car-ringing gang, told police she did not know he was dealing in stolen cars, a court heard.
Jennifer Ings, 24, was questioned in a series of interviews following her arrest in September last year.
At Birmingham Crown Court yesterday the jury heard that Ings had denied police claims that she had "turned a blind eye" to Jangheer Khan's criminal activity.
Ings, of Highway View, Arleston, Wellington, and formerly of St Matthews Road, Donnington, denies conspiring to steal cars between July, 2012 and September last year, and a charge of concealing stolen cars between February and September last year.
During the police interviews Ings had denied allegations that she had rented a garage from Wrekin Housing Trust near her home for 30-year-old Khan to hide stolen or re-built cars.
Ings had also claimed to have no knowledge of a list of dozens cars that police said Khan and others had stolen.
Questioned by police, Ings claimed her relationship with Khan was casual and that he had access to her flat and the garage, but she was not involved in what was going on.
Covert police surveillance tapes had shown Ings and Khan using a rebuilt black BMW car in July last year and on two occasions Ings was seen to be behind the wheel.
The court heard that the BMW had been involved in an incident when it was driven slowly around a cul-de-sac and stopped outside the home of one of the officers in the case.
It is alleged that Ings' laptop had earlier been used to search for information relating to the officer who had been in attendance three months earlier when Khan had been stopped in a suspect vehicle.
During her interviews Ings had denied that she was aware her computer had been used or that she had been involved in the internet search.
The prosecution say the car-ringing gang had legitimately acquired accident damaged cars, which were later rebuilt at a unit on a Shifnal industrial estate, using parts from dozens of stolen cars.
The jury has heard Jangheer Khan, and three other men, had all pleaded guilty to being involved in the conspiracy and two other men had admitted conspiring to handle stolen car parts.
The trial continues.
