Mechanic paid €100 a week to strip stolen cars for export

A Lithuanian mechanic who was paid €100 a week to strip high-end stolen vehicles so car parts could be shipped on to Eastern Europe has been sentenced to three years in jail.

Nerigus Flederis, aged 34, who was living in “a filthy caravan with no running water” in McAuley’s Yard, Flemington, Balbriggan, Co Dublin, at the time, secured the job after meeting a man in a nightclub.

He told gardaí he was curious when he was asked to work on the vehicles but he did not ask any questions. He maintained that, had he realised the vehicles had been stolen, he would not have done the work.