BOSSES at two East Lancashire firms have gone on trial accused of a £400,000 plant machinery scam using vehicles sourced from ‘Irish Jimmy’ and ‘Polish Pete’.

Prosecutors allege Matthew Hartley and Ronald Goss were part of a plot which saw stolen rollers and dumper trucks repackaged as legitimate vehicles and sold on to unsuspecting customers.

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But Nicholas Courtney, opening a seven-week trial at Burnley Crown Court, told jurors the suspected ring was uncovered when a Bomag roller was traced to Hartley’s home in Cliviger, within 36 hours of being stolen.

When an investigator located the roller, which was fitted with a tracking device, the vehicle’s identification plate had been removed, prosecutors said.

When challenged about the discovery, Hartley claimed it had been passed to him by an associate he knew as ‘Irish Jimmy’.

But when police called a mobile phone number, linked to the mystery trader, he failed to attend for interview, the court heard.

It is alleged Hartley, a director at Oswaldtwistle-based Whatmore Builders, worked with Goss, who ran his own firm, RG Plant Sales, to sell on stolen plant machinery, mostly from places around West Yorkshire.

Mr Courtney said Hartley became involved in the sales, through e-Bay accounts and adverts in the Farmer’s Guardian, when Whatmore encountered difficulties during the recession.

One of his employees, Mark Swift, is said to have been responsible for the delivery and collection of the vehicles, the court heard.

Mr Courtney said that 23 vehicles were involved and identification plates are said to have been removed and replaced with ‘clean’ markings before being resold.

Interviewed by police, Goss accepted he had been paid £500 for reselling vehicles sourced from ‘Irish Jimmy’ and Swift denied knowing that the vehicles were stolen.

Hartley, 42, of Rawnook Farm, Bacup Road, Cliviger, Goss, 60, of Dean Road, Haslingden, and Swift, of Haywood Road, Accrington, have each denied conspiracy to conceal, disguise or convert criminal property.

Another alleged friend of Hartley’s - Oliver Young, 33, of Edgeside Lane, Waterfoot - has pleaded guilty to being involvement in the criminal conspiracy and will be sentenced at the conclusion of the trial.