Brian Griffiths stole Land Rover from Pickles Auctions Belmore

A serial thief carried out a bold car heist when he walked onto the showroom floor of Pickles Auctions and drove a Land Rover through a boom gate.

A thief has pulled off a daring daylight car heist after he stole a Land Rover straight off the showroom floor of a second-hand car dealership and drove it through a security boom gate.

Brian Shawn Griffiths, 41, appeared in Moss Vale Local Court via video link after pleading guilty to taking a car without the consent of an owner and a separate charge of breaking and entering to steal value less than $60,000.

In court documents police said at around 3pm on May 21 last year the Raymond Terrace resident walked into the Belmore showroom warehouse of Pickles Auctions, a second-hand vehicle auctioneer.

After declining an offer of help from the manager, Griffiths looked around before hopping into the driver’s seat of a grey 2019 Land Rover Discovery Sport.

With vehicles at Pickles usually left in the warehouse showroom floor with the keys inside, Griffiths took full advantage of the situation by starting the engine and driving straight through a closed boom gate.

Brian Shawn Griffiths appeared in Moss Vale Court on May 28 2021. Picture: AAP Image/Joel Carrett

The manager who had spoken to Griffiths earlier tried to drive after him but couldn’t see where he’d gone.

In court documents police said the whole incident was captured on CCTV.

Nine days later on May 30, the car was located in Rosebery in Sydney with a duffel bag inside containing clothing, a syringe, a spoon with drug residue on it, a set of stolen number plates, a knife, and a screwdriver.

Griffiths’ fingerprints were all over the car and his DNA was found in the syringe, police said in court documents.

About a month later on the morning of June 28, court documents state Griffiths and a co-accused broke into the house of a family in Wildes Meadow after they left at 8am. When two of the occupants returned home at 10.30am they found the front and shed doors open and the rooms had been ransacked.

The victims reported a number of valuable items missing, including around $7,000 cash, jewellery, coins in coin boxes, personal cards, shoes, model cars, and a red Honda dirt bike.

A witness told police she’d seen Griffiths driving through Wildes Meadow on the red dirt bike.

On July 1, Griffiths and his co-accused were arrested on unrelated charges and police went to the motel where they’d been staying to raid their room.

They found many of the items reported missing, and found three of the gold rings and a gold chain on Griffiths when he was arrested.

The motel manager told police the pair had checked into the motel only hours after their break and enter, and CCTV footage showed them unloading their haul into the room.

Moss Vale Court was told Brian Shawn Griffiths will have work once he’s out of jail. Picture: AAP Image/Joel Carrett

In court, Griffiths’s lawyer Brian Hanrahan said his client had a history of “ongoing offending” and had committed the offences while “on conditional liberty”.

He told the court Griffiths endured a childhood marred with sexual abuse and “severe deprivation”, and suffers from depression and anxiety as a result. However, Mr Hanrahan said time in jail had caused Griffiths to reflect on his actions.

“He’s come to the realisation that he needs help,” he said.

Mr Hanrahan said his client had not planned the offences or sought to inflict pain.

“The offences were spontaneous,” he said.

Magistrate Mark Douglass disagreed, and told the court there was “premeditation” in these serious offences. He said people work hard for their belongings and their cars.

“If there’s an offence the community is concerned about, break and enter would be the top pick,” he said.

“It leaves people vulnerable and scared.”

Magistrate Douglass imprisoned Griffiths for 16 months with a 10 month non-parole period. The sentence was backdated to when Griffiths was first imprisoned on November 18, so it will expire on 17 March 2022.