Wheel Clamper Con Artist Goes to Jail

The lengths some will go to these days to make some extra cash... Yet, since here we are not talking about “some” extra cash, but a full GBP500,000 (in other currencies EUR590,000, $780,000, just to make sure you understand what we are talking about), we think the lengths this guy went to were not great enough. Because, you know, he got caught.

Long story short, Gary Southall, a professional (and at times convicted) burglar used to con drivers by clamping the wheels on their cars and then handing receipts to remove them. According to The Telegraph, this little enterprise landed Southall no less than GBP500,000 (again, EUR590,000, $780,000).

Southall was operating under the umbrella of National Parking Control, a company which, according to prosecutor Andrew Lockhart, “had nothing to do with parking control.“ Southall used to park decoy cars in areas where parking was forbidden, thus encouraging other drivers to do the same.

Then came the clamping part. Once the victim driver arrived to the scene, he or she was charged at least 200 pounds as a means to cancel the tow truck which was supposed to be on route to pick up the car (of course, the tow truck didn't exist). The driver was then asked to pay a de-clamping fee of 125 pounds.

It was all good while it lasted. After 300 drivers filed complaints, Gary Southall was apprehended, trialled and sentenced to four years in prison. His accomplices in crime, Phillip Bennett, Wayne Southall, Victoria Charlton, all pleaded guilty and were handed sentences.