A car repair boss was uncovered as a “fence” in a £230,000 car ringing scam when police investigated a shooting, a court heard today.

Talib Hussain, aged 29, was blasted twice after getting out of a customer’s Bentley car on the Thornleigh Trading Estate, Dudley.

When police were called to investigate the attack, they found a registration plate belonging to a stolen Volkswagen in the boot of the Bentley.

Police then found parts from £230,000 worth of stolen cars at a part of his business he had leased out to a man named Daniel Marcus, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard today.

The parts themselves were only worth up to £10,000, the court heard, but Hussain would have been willing to use them as part of his work at the now defunct Applied Vehicle Solutions Limited.

Hussain, of Douglas Avenue, Hodge Hill, Birmingham, admitted conspiracy to handle stolen goods.

Mr Dean Kershaw, defending, said the shooting, which happened December, 2007, and has never been solved, happened after he tried to evict Mr Marcus.

Judge Michael Challinor gave him a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months.