Raid on independent garage helps police disrupt organised crime group

A police raid on an independent dealership and garage in the Midlands has led police to believe they have disrupted a "serious organised crime group" which was ringing valuable high performance cars.

The raid was launched after officers traced a stolen Audi S3 hot hatch to the business in Coventry.

The Audi and a BMW X3 and a Volkswagen California had all been stolen in a burglary of a premises more than 100 miles away in Hullavington, Wiltshire.

Although the thieves had crashed the Volkswagen nearby, the BMW and Audi disappeared without trace, until investigations led to the Coventry business, where the Audi was displayed on the forecourt with a registration that had been cloned from another vehicle.

From that discovery, police were able to trace a 'chop shop' garage which was processing stolen cars.

On the property were two partially stripped stolen vehicles plus a significant amount of car parts believed to have been stripped from other stolen vehicles. The haul was valued at more than £150,000.

The team also located a stolen Ford Fiesta ST on cloned number plates.

A Wiltshire Police spokesman said: "Enquiries have established this particular garage has been directly linked to the theft of a further two high value vehicles."

The police spokesman added: "A joint investigation will continue with West Midlands Police".

Separately, West Midlands Police have successfully prosecuted a criminal linked with a series of thefts of high-end vehicles, including at least eight Range Rovers.

Reece Woodthorpe, from Wolverhampton and most recently Birmingham, was jailed for four years after admitting vehicle thefts which occured in 2021 and 2022.

During a search of his home at the time in Wolverhampton officers recovered a key fob and electronic equipment used to access vehicles by keyless means, and an expert analyst found that at least eight Range Rovers were stolen using the device, while a phone seized by investigators also linked Woodthorpe to the criminal enterprise.

"We believe Woodthorpe played a leading role in orchestrating and enabling numerous car thefts, mainly targeting Range Rovers, which saw vehicles valued at over £500,000 being taken," said police.