Two men have been sentenced for their roles in taking a vehicle and setting fire to it near Gatwick Airport.
Edward Maunder, 37, and Michael Lyons, 28, were due to fly to Peru for charity work for their company.
The night before departure they met a driver of a vehicle from a meet and greet parking company in a bar in Crawley.
They mistakenly believed the driver was a drug dealer and took the car as reparation when the driver told them he did not have drugs.
The vehicle, a Toyota Rav 4, had been handed to a meet and greet company by a holidaymaker days earlier.
Maunder and Lyons bought a jerry can of petrol, then left the vehicle ablaze below the monorail link between terminals.
The monorail had to be temporarily closed while the fire was put out and any structural damage was assessed.
They were both served with a postal requisition to attend court and were sentenced.
At Hove Crown Court on Thursday 27 February, Maunder, formerly an office administration worker of Coniston Crescent, Thornton Clevelys, Lancashire, admitted arson.
Lyons, formerly an office clerk of Upper Chorlton Road, Manchester, also admitted arson and theft of a motor vehicle.
The court was told how the incident happened on Monday 16 October 2023.
Lyons and Maunder had gone out to a bar in Crawley High Street the night before they were due to depart, Sunday 15 October.
They met the driver from a meet and greet parking company who was driving a customer’s vehicle, the Toyota Rav 4.
The pair mistakenly believed the driver was a drug dealer and wanted to purchase drugs from him.
When he later refused, the men took the car in lieu of drugs in the early hours of the Monday, leaving the driver behind.
They then drove the Toyota down an embankment off the A23 spur road and set it on fire.
Lyons was arrested the same day in a nearby staff car park at Gatwick in an intoxicated state, with the key to the Toyota still in his trouser pocket.
Maunder was later arrested in the south terminal.
At initial interview, Lyons claimed he had been handed the Toyota key by a woman in the bar over concerns that the company driver was intoxicated.
He denied driving the vehicle.
But Maunder recorded the night’s events on his mobile phone, showing them in the vehicle and driving it and discussing how they would set it on fire.
CCTV footage showed them purchasing petrol in a jerry can after they had taken the vehicle.
Meanwhile, Maunder also sent messages bragging about the night’s events and claiming police would have no evidence to prosecute them.
When presented with the evidence at later interviews, both men provided no comment.
Detective Sergeant Ian Warncken said: “Maunder and Lyons’ behaviour was reckless and appalling.
“Their reasons for deciding to not only take the vehicle but to set fire to it are inexplicable.
“They risked causing serious harm to themselves and to the public and risked disruption to the airport.
“This case demonstrated the professionalism of Gatwick officers and detectives to gather overwhelming evidence which meant Maunder and Lyons had no choice but to plead guilty in court.
“The case also highlights the importance of vehicle owners to do their homework and check the reputation of vehicle meet and greet parking companies.”
Judge David Rennie sentenced both men to two-year suspended prison sentences and ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work.
They must also pay £3,000 each in compensation to the Toyota Rav 4 vehicle owner.
Maunder was disqualified from driving for 18 months and ordered to complete 15 rehabilitation activity requirement (RAR) sessions. He was also ordered to complete 120 days of alcohol abstinence.
Lyons was disqualified from driving for a year and was ordered to complete 10 sessions of rehabilitation activity.
