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Prolific car crook from Dursley died in multiple crash
11:33am Thursday 29th July 2010

A MAN once dubbed 'Britain's most prolific car crook' caused a five vehicle pile up in which he died, an inquest heard.

Andrew Winter, 34, of Dursley, was more than twice over the drink drive limit and was not wearing his seat belt when he lost control of his VW Golf, the inquest was told.
Winter, 34, had been jailed in 2006 after he admitted breaking into nearly 1,000 cars.
He then became a poacher-turned-gamekeeper when he was taken on as an adviser to the British car insurance industry.
Just like credit card fraudster Frank Abignale, played by Leonardo di Caprio in the film Catch Me If You Can, the secrets of Winter's criminal methods were used to help devise better security systems.
At the inquest in Gloucester, county coroner Alan Crickmore heard that the engine of Winter's car was found 42 metres away from the rest of his vehicle after the horrific multiple crash on January 19 this year.
The crash happened as he was driving along the B4066 from Dursley towards the A38 and lost control as he was going down a hill on Tait's Hill Road.

Amazingly, none of the other drivers was seriously injured even though three of their cars were written off.

An accidental death verdict was recorded on Winter, of Rosebery Road.
Just six weeks after receiving his two-and-a-half year jail term in 2006, Winter had absconded from Leyhill open prison and fled to Spain where he lived for over a year.
He was caught when he returned to this country to see his girlfriend and young daughter and after he admited absconding from prison and stealing a generator valued at £1,500, he was jailed for a further 18 months.
Witnesses said he was going very fast and his car at one point flew through the air and landed on top of another car.
Emma Squirrel, who was driving her Peugeot 206 up Tait's Hill towards Dursley, said she had just passed some roadworks and was starting to go around a right hand bend when a car came towards her at "way above the speed limit" and she thought the driver had lost control.
"As it went by I heard tyres screeching and I knew it would not make the corner. In my mirror I saw it collide with the car behind and there was a loud bang," she said.
Thomas Palmer's Vauxhall Corsa was directly behind the Peugeot when he was suddenly dazzled by headlights right in front of him.
"There was no time to do anything before a big impact," he said. "I had to climb out through the passenger door."
Simon Sobey suddenly saw a vehicle flying towards him through the air underside first.
The airbag of his Citroen ZX went off as it hit and his car span round to face the way it had come.
Vehicle examiners could find nothing wrong with any of the cars which might have contributed towards the accident.
Mr Crickmore was told that Winter had not been wearing a seatbelt and he had died from multiple injuries.
Toxicology tests showed he had nearly two-and-a-half times the legal driving limit of alcohol in his blood and the inquest was told this would have impaired his driving.
PC Darren Williams, collision investigator, said the Golf had been involved in three impacts and had suffered severe damage.
Its engine had become detached and was found 42 metres away from the rest of the car.
It had not been possible to establish the Golf's speed he said, but witnesses had said it was travelling at high speed and this was supported by the amount of damage.
He said the maximum safe speed the bend could be taken at was 79mph.
"The Golf's driver was travelling at such a speed that when he braked the car's wheels locked," he said.
"After it collided with the Corsa and a Skoda it flipped over and landed on the bonnet of the Citroen."

Mr Crickmore said all the witnesses had described the same scene. "Mr Winter was drunk and he was not wearing a seatbelt," he went on.
"He braked when he realised he was not going to be able to keep on the road but it was too late. He was effectively already out of control.
"The reality of this incident was someone driving in a foolish fashion while drunk and he died as the result of his actions."
*At Gloucester Crown Court in 2006, Winter was said to be 'addicted' to motor crime and able to break into almost any car in seconds using techniques police had never come across before.

At that hearing he admitted handling two stolen Mercedes cars and asked for an amazing 915 car break-ins to be taken into consideration.
The court was told the Motor Insurance Research Centre was consulting with Winter to learn the tricks of his trade so that manufacturers could build safer cars.
Prosecutor David Chidgey said the 915 car break-ins offences stretched back to 1997 and covered the nabbing of tens of thousands of pounds worth of radios, CD players, handbags and, lately Sat Nav systems.