Seven members of an organised crime group have been jailed after the court heard that they had stolen more than £4m of cars in the region over a ten month period
The group was made up of eight people aged between 15 and 20 and were responsible for a vast amount of burglary and thefts across Manchester, stretching into Cheshire, which began in 2021.
They were committing burglaries on homes in order to steal high-value cars on an industrial scale and almost always whilst victims were home and asleep upstairs.
The stolen vehicles were then disposed of by various means including recovered on cloned plates and using ‘chop shops’ which involves stripping down undamaged, perfectly working vehicles to sell as parts vehicles.
Their victims included a man who works for the NHS as an advanced practitioner, he works on a busy intensive care unit and struggled to get to work.
One woman who hasn’t been able to sleep in her own bed since last September while another young woman who through trauma and anxiety following the burglary had physio and treatment for cluster headaches where her face dropped, similar to when someone has a stroke.
Another young woman whose father was living with her and who was receiving palliative care at the time, he saw the burglars which made him fear for his safety. They moved him out the following day, but he sadly died a few days later, with his daughter not having seen him whilst she organised the insurance company and aftermath following the burglary.
Another family have now moved from their home as it would have a profound effect on their autistic and registered disabled daughter.
A young woman who was booked in at hospital on the Monday morning to have a surgical procedure for a miscarriage having gone through the pain and trauma of a miscarriage that weekend, the car was stolen in the early hours of that Monday. The father had to look after the young children whilst the mother had to travel via public transport to get to hospital on her own.
Detective Constable Chris Chinnery, of GMP’s Serious Organised Crime Group, said:
“I must thank the victims for coming forward and working with us. They have been very appreciative of the work our dedicated team of officers has done over the course of this extensive investigation.
“There have been some harrowing victim personal statements where members of the public have been quite badly affected.
“The OCG is responsible for targeting homes with high-value vehicles at night. The impact on the community is colossal, as the vehicles are being stolen whilst the victims sleep upstairs.
“Their offending was on a vast scale, operating across the Greater Manchester area and having significant ramifications on the victims.
“The evidence captured on the defendant’s phone indicated they were involved in the commission of the primary offences and shows them in or near stolen vehicles immediately after the offences.
“A huge part of the evidence was recovered from the defendant’s own mobile phones, as once they had stolen the vehicles, they filmed each other stood with, or driving them. In most cases with the burglaries, they snapped the locks of UPVC doors, and entered the house looking for car keys, sometimes posting their endeavours on SnapChat.
“One of the group also had a device used for the keyless thefts of Range Rovers, Land Rovers and Jaguars and stole two Range Rover SVR’s within an hour, one was valued at £107,000 and the other £78,000. In one night, some of the group were responsible for the theft of six cars, four from the same house.
“Thanks to our exceptional officers, we’ve been able to secure some positive sentencings this week.”
Constable Chris Chinnery, of GMP’s Serious Organised Crime Group, said: “I must thank the victims for coming forward and working with us. They have been very appreciative of the work our dedicated team of officers has done over the course of this extensive investigation.
“There have been some harrowing victim personal statements where members of the public have been quite badly affected.
“The OCG is responsible for targeting homes with high-value vehicles at night. The impact on the community is colossal, as the vehicles are being stolen whilst the victims sleep upstairs.
“Their offending was on a vast scale, operating across the Greater Manchester area and having significant ramifications on the victims.
“The evidence captured on the defendant’s phone indicated they were involved in the commission of the primary offences and shows them in or near stolen vehicles immediately after the offences.
“A huge part of the evidence was recovered from the defendant’s own mobile phones, as once they had stolen the vehicles, they filmed each other stood with, or driving them. In most cases with the burglaries, they snapped the locks of UPVC doors, and entered the house looking for car keys, sometimes posting their endeavours on SnapChat.
“One of the group also had a device used for the keyless thefts of Range Rovers, Land Rovers and Jaguars and stole two Range Rover SVR’s within an hour, one was valued at £107,000 and the other £78,000. In one night, some of the group were responsible for the theft of six cars, four from the same house.
“Thanks to our exceptional officers, we’ve been able to secure some positive sentencings this week.”
