Bristol: An Indian-origin pharmacist has been jailed for six months for owning a fleet of stolen vehicles and putting his own personalised number plates on them to avoid detection.

Harminder Singh Chana (47), who qualified as a pharmacist after arriving in Britain from Kenya, owns a chain of pharmacies across Bristol.

In the Bristol Crown Court, Chana admitted handling a Mercedes- Benz car and three Vauxhall Astra vans, knowing or believing them to be stolen, between 1996 and 2005.

Philip Warren, prosecuting lawyer, told the court that one of the cars was a Mercedes SL320 convertible, worth 55,750 pounds, which had been stolen in Birmingham in 1996.

Chana bought the vehicle a year later for 15,000 pounds and confessed after his arrest that he had been suspicious about its origins. But he transferred his personalised number plate from an older Mercedes to the stolen vehicle.

Chana was also found in possession of three Astra vans stolen from the dealers. He re-registered with personal plates. He said he had bought them for less than their value and claimed that he had been suspicious.

In all, Chana was found to have benefited to the tune of 85,296 pounds from the dubious deals and agreed to pay that figure to the court within two months.

Gilbert Gray, defending lawyer, told the court that after going through an arranged marriage, he devoted himself to working hard to make his pharmacy business successful.

Witnesses told the judge that Chana was a well respected man who was honest and reliable. He allegedly lost his focus after his wife left him for his best friend.

Imposing sentence, Judge Julian Lambert told him: "I am very sad to see a man like you before the court for receiving four motor vehicles knowing each was stolen. You could have paid market value. There was no need for any of this."

Source : PTI