Watch: Doorbell footage captures brazen actions of car key burglary gang who stole nearly £3.5m of vehicles

Video footage released by West Mercia Police has captured the actions of a brazen gang of burglars who stole almost £3.5million worth of vehicles caught on door bell cameras.

Eleven members of the gang were sentenced to a total of 94 years and eight months for their roles in what has been dubbed the biggest conspiracy case dealt with by West Mercia Police in a hearing at Worcester Crown Court today (April 17) and yesterday (April 16).

The investigation covered over 130 criminal events and the court heard how police uncovered the gangs involvement in the theft of more than 100 vehicles including high-end cars such as BMWs, Audis, Land Rovers and Range Rovers – worth over £100,000 each.

Typically, the gang would break into their victim’s home and steal the car keys. They would then bleach or clean their entrance and exit points to hide forensic evidence before speeding off in the stolen vehicles, causing extensive damage.

A video, captured on a victims doorbell camera, showed members of the gang breaking into a vehicle and speeding off the driveway.

Carrying out burglaries in balaclavas and often confronting their victims, the gang caused misery and harm to those they targeted, which included elderly and vulnerable people, and families with young children, across the UK. Many of those impacted by the gang ended up having to move house, haunted by the effects of their ordeals.

After the thefts, they would quickly move on the cars using criminal networks by either disguising the vehicles’ original identities to sell them on the black market for only a fraction of their value or strip them out for parts in illegal ‘chop shops.’

The damage caused to the properties as well as other valuables, including sentimental jewellery and cash, they stole ramped up the cost of their criminal enterprise to around £3.67million.

All twelve offenders were arrested and later charged by the force with the investigation revealing their brazen and arrogant attitude towards law and order and a callous disregard towards the victims they stole from.

Mobile phone videos shared via social media channels like WhatsApp and Snapchat captured them bragging about their exploits and scouting out target vehicles while dashcam footage from stolen cars caught them racing away from crime scenes at speeds of more than 160mph.

Considering their ages at the time of offences and reductions in their sentencing for guilty pleas, yesterday at court the following offenders were convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit burglary and one count of conspiracy to conceal/disguise/transfer/remove criminal property:

• Charlie Coombs, 20, of Grafton Lane, Bidford-on-Avon, Alcester, was sentenced to eight years and three months in a young offenders’ institution for the first offence and five years concurrently for the second offence. He was also disqualified from driving for 96 months.
• Wesley Hunt, 49, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to seven years and two months in prison and three years to run concurrently. He was disqualified from driving for 91 months.
• Jack Stephens, 19, of HMP YOI Featherstone, was sentenced to six years and four months and three years concurrently in a young offenders’ institution. He was disqualified from driving for 86 months.
• Charlie Taylor-Bates, 20, of Evesham, was sentenced to four years and ten months and three years concurrently in a young offenders’ institution. He was disqualified from driving for 48 months.
• Riley Reeve, 28, of Pitwell Lane, Aldington, Evesham was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit burglary for which he was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison. He was disqualified from driving for 76 months.

Today, the following offenders were convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit burglary and one count of conspiracy to conceal/disguise/transfer/remove criminal property: -

• Bradley Archer, 29, of Rynal Place, Evesham was sentenced to seven years and six months, and four years to run concurrently. He was also disqualified from driving for 93 months.
• Chance Gill, 27, of Eckington, Worcestershire was sentenced to eight years for his involvement in Operation Flare, as well as a six-year sentence for conspiracy to commit burglary for offences in Wiltshire – these are to run consecutively. Gill was also given a 12-month sentence for failing to stop/dangerous driving to run concurrently, and disqualified from driving for 191 months.
• Jimmy Doran, 22, of Windmill Lane, Ladbroke in Warwickshire, was sentenced to 11 years and two months, and seven years to run concurrently. He was also disqualified from driving for 114 months.
• Eric Pearce, 29, of HMP YOI Stoke Heath, was sentenced to 10 years and six months, and eight years to run concurrently. He was also disqualified from driving for 117 months.
• Morgan Spiers, 27, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to eight years for his involvement in Operation Flare, as well as a four-year sentence for conspiracy to commit burglary for offences in Wiltshire – these are to run consecutively. He was disqualified from driving for 21 years.
• Shane Young, 34, of HMP Hewell, was sentenced to eight years and four months, and five years to run concurrently. He was also disqualified from driving for 95 months.
• A 12th gang member - a 17-year-old boy from Stratford-upon-Avon, who cannot be named for legal reasons - was sentenced separately at Worcester Crown Court in January to a detention and training order for 14 months.

Detective Constable Simon Lloyd, co-lead investigator on the case known as Operation Flare, said: “This organised criminal gang were responsible for £3.45million of car thefts causing a lot of harm to their victims in the process.

“Not only did the victims suffer from their cars being stolen and homes broken into, but the offenders also had a ‘calling card’ of bleaching areas they came to contact with damaging properties and causing further misery.”

His colleague and fellow Op Flare lead investigator, DC Joshua Hunt added: “We hope the sentences handed out today will send a message that we will come after these gangs and prosecute where appropriate to get justice for those impacted by their offending.”

Detective Inspector James Bamber of Proactive CID added: “This result is for those victims. We hope it brings them some sense of justice and helps them to move on with their lives after the harm this gang have caused them.

“For West Mercia Police it concludes a thorough and comprehensive year-long investigation by our officers into what has been the biggest conspiracy case by volume of offences ever dealt with by the force.

“I would like to pay tribute to the Op Flare team for their hard work and dedication on this case which has seen justice delivered for more than a hundred victims across the country.”

His Honour Judge Andrew Lockhart KC told the perpetrators in court: “The terrible and long-lasting impact of your offences strike at the heart of society who should feel safe and secure in their own homes.

“You reaped havoc upon their lives without any thought for them. Families endured fear and children were affected by your actions. A significant portion of your victims were forced to move home as they couldn’t face living there anymore.

“You caused them huge financial losses. Sentimental items were taken and relationships between families were harmed by the stress you caused them.”

Adam Till from the Crown Prosecution Service said: "These were coordinated and planned burglaries by a group of defendants who were indiscriminate as to who they targeted.

“They were motivated solely by greed and took pleasure in driving stolen vehicles dangerously and at high speed, endangering the public further.

“They left victims scared in their own homes and without critical transport, often in rural areas. As such, victims had difficulties attending medical appointments, taking children to school, and were left dealing with financial losses through seeking alternative transport and repairs to damage caused to their homes.

“The sentences passed reflect both the scale of the offending and the profound impact on victims across the country.

"We hope these sentences bring some comfort to all those affected and that they send out a clear message that the CPS will work tirelessly with our policing partners to bring organised criminal groups to justice, no matter how complex the case."