A DURSLEY builder has been jailed for acting as a spotter for a highly organised gang of car thieves who targeted isolated Devon farms.

Stephen Panes, 39, of Beyon Drive, scouted around quiet farmyards in the lanes between South Molton and Barnstaple seeking out high value 4x4s for others to steal.

They were then driven to a pub in Somerset where he was staying, stripped of any identifying marks, and moved on.

One of the trucks was stolen when it was attached to a trailer containing the carcasses of two dead cattle. It was uncoupled and the £24,000 vehicle was never seen again.

Lee Bremridge, prosecuting, told Exeter Crown Court how Panes was trapped by incriminating text messages, which showed him sending back details of the target vehicles to other members of the gang.

Panes admitted three thefts of vehicles worth a total of more than £40,000 in April and July 2010. None of the vehicles was recovered intact.

Speaking in mitigation Robert Morgan-Jones said Panes had turned his life around since his arrest and wanted to settle down and pursue his job as a building fabricator.

He told the court: "The evidence suggests he was not the organiser. When his room was searched he was living in squalid conditions in the back room of a pub.

"This was not a highly sophisticated or well planned operation although there were elements of pre-planning."

Recorder Robert Linford told Panes that he had been part of a highly organised gang.

He said: "These thefts no doubt caused the owners significant inconvenience, hardship and concern. This was professional thieving and must be sentenced as such.

"The phone analysis demonstrates the significant role you played in these thefts. You have previous convictions, which demonstrate a dishonest streak."

Panes was sentenced to 29 months in jail.