A serial car thief who was caught following a six-hour rooftop siege after stealing motors worth more than £200,000 has been jailed for more than three years.
Jordan Skachill - nicknamed the Red Baron - carried out a criminal spree that saw him steal 13 top of the range vehicles from properties across Edinburgh.
Skachill, 28, broke into private homes to steal keys to the cars and vans and his massive haul of vehicles included Range Rovers, Land Rovers and an Audi.
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The crook also made off with jewellery worth £18,000 during one raid and when police eventually tracked him down at his home he evaded arrest by jumping 15 feet out of a kitchen window.
Skachill then climbed 30 feet up a drainpipe onto a nearby roof where he threatened to throw tiles at officers during the six-hour standoff in April this year.
More than 30 police officers, fire engines and an ambulance attended the scene until Skachill finally gave himself up.
Skachill appeared in the dock from custody at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month where he pleaded guilty to 21 theft charges and sentence had been deferred for reports.
The father-of-one returned to the city court yesterday (Tuesday) where Sheriff Donald Corke said the prolific thief had carried out “a very serious course of conduct”.
Skachill was caged for a total of 40 months and was handed a supervised release order whereby he will be monitored for 12 months after he is freed from prison.
The sheriff, who noted Skachill had served four previous custodial sentences, said: “In my judgement in order to protect the public for a period of time on your release I will make a supervised release order for a period of 12 months.”
Lawyer Euan Gosney, defending, told the court his client had showed “a lack of maturity belying his age” and while on remand he has been attending courses relating to parenting and employment.
Mr Gosney said: “He hopes to take a more productive role in society and be a better role model for his daughter.”
Previously the court heard how Skachill stole vehicles valued at £213,000 along with goods worth £24,308 from homes across the capital between January 21 and April 15 this year.
Prosecutor Jennifer McLaren said a Range Rover worth £15,000 was taken in March while he also took off with a Range Rover and a Land Rover both worth £25,000 just days later.
All three vehicles were eventually recovered but two Land Rover Discoveries, valued at £18,000 and £30,000, stolen from homes in Blackhall and in Colinton were never recovered.
The court was also told how Skachill broke into a home in the Corstorphine area with an unknown accomplice and stole an Audi which was parked outside.
He then forced entry to a Cramond home and stole two Volkswagen cars after searching out their keys.
Ms McLaren also said Skachill, a labourer, stole four vans worth a total of £60,000 in one night in January this year.
And after police recovered the thief’s mobile phone they found messages of him bragging about how many cars he had available for sale.
Skachill also pleaded guilty to further charges of stealing a £40,000 VW Transporter and jewellery worth £18,605 from another home as well as fixing false number plates to the stolen vehicles.
Police eventually tracked the serial thief down after they recovered his DNA from the scene of one brazen theft.
Skachill gained the nickname the Red Baron – derived from the German World War I flying ace – due to his notorious reputation as a teenage car and motorbike thief.
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