By James Vukmirovic
Copyright expressandstar
Between January and July 2024, Waqar Khan, Harris Haroon, Mohammed Akleem Ali and Bilal Khan loitered around streets and carparks looking for cars to steal, by in July, the group were arrested and their phones and equipment used to steal cars were seized.
In April this year, all four pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal motor vehicles and on Thursday, September 18, they were sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court.
Waqar Khan, 25, of Finnemore Road in Birmingham, was jailed for four years and six months, Haroon, 20, of Whittington Oval in Birmingham, was sentenced to three years in a young offenders institution, Bilal Khan, 28, of Hob Moor Road in Birmingham, received a two year suspended sentence and Akleem Ali, 18, of St Benedicts Road in Birmingham was handed a 36-month Youth Supervision Order and ordered to participate in a Restorative Justice intervention programme.
The court had heard how on June 20, 2024, a Toyota Hilux was stolen from a carpark on Holliday Street in Birmingham, with the car, which had a tracker fitted, later found on James Street in Tyseley.
CCTV from the area showed Waqar Khan arrive in the stolen car, before leaving the area in his black BMW, which was being driven by Bilal Khan.
Investigations by West Midlands Police revealed that Waqar Khan would often use his own car to stake out cars the group were going to steal or as part of a getaway convoy.
Two days before, Waqar Khan’s car had also been spotted at a carpark in Birmingham where another car was stolen. Waqar Khan drove into the carpark dropping someone off to steal the car before both cars left the carpark in convoy.
Through CCTV and investigations, officers discovered that this was a pattern for the groups offending and were able to link them to dozens more car thefts.
The group would often share photos and videos on WhatsApp Snap Chat flaunting the cars they had stolen, with some of the videos showing the group posing by the stolen cars, driving them and even stealing them.
Screenshots of several stolen car posts from Facebook was also shared by the group in chats to each other, including cars that had been recovered by police from locations that the group had left them to see if they had trackers.
Facebook posts made by victims about their stolen cars were also shared in the group and, at times, they would brazenly reach out to the victims to try and blackmail them into buying their own car back, on one occasion setting the figure at four thousand pounds.
One buyer came all the way from Middlesbrough to buy a stolen Toyota Hilux, which was later recovered from Stockton-on-Tees.
PC Junaid Ali from the Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said: “We do not underestimate the impact of having a vehicle stolen has on people. Not only is it an inconvenience, but it makes people feel vulnerable and scared.
“This group were prolific and treated their offending as a business enterprise. They committed these crimes again and again, stealing all types of cars and selling them on. But by doing so, they incriminated themselves.
“Our forensic investigators managed to interrogate their handsets and find lots of the material they filmed and sent to each other bragging about their criminality that ultimately caught them out.
“This is a great result and has meant that four prolific car thieves have been brought to justice.
“We always act on information from the public. If something doesn’t feel right, always report it to us because your information does make a difference.”
