A man named Oliver Cooper has been sentenced to jail for his involvement in a car theft ring that stole luxury vehicles worth millions of pounds. Police discovered a video on his phone showing Cooper inside a stolen Range Rover Sport that had been taken from a retail park in Selly Oak. The footage shows the interior of the car, which is worth £55,000, and Cooper’s face is visible.
Cooper’s crimes took place between July 2021 and May 2022, during which he participated in at least 35 offenses in Birmingham, Solihull, and Sandwell. The stolen cars included 17 Range Rovers, as well as 14 Audis, Jaguars, and Mercedes, with a total value exceeding £4 million.
Numerous cars were stolen through car key burglaries, usually at night. In one instance, the owners of two Audis were threatened with a knife in their own home before surrendering their keys. However, many cars were taken while parked at shopping centers and restaurants. Some of the stolen cars were recovered and returned to their rightful owners, including a Range Rover Sport that was taken from a retail park in Selly Oak on January 27th, 2021. The vehicle’s tracker was activated, leading officers to abandon it in Grimley Road, Birmingham, where it was recovered within 30 minutes of being taken. The car already had false plates attached to it.
On February 8th, an offender fled from a stolen Fiesta which was identified by an ANPR camera in Birmingham city center. Officers pursued the vehicle, and the doors to the car were seen to open as it raced through the busy streets. The offender fled, and investigators worked with Birmingham City Council to track down CCTV footage from the areas where the offender had run into.
The footage identified the offender as Cooper, who was later arrested at his home in Sylvan Avenue, Northfield, on September 16th, 2021. Digital forensic experts analyzed two phones seized from Cooper, which revealed videos, messages, and images related to stolen cars and criminal activity. The phone data linked Cooper to the offenses, and the videos recovered from the phones showed the interior of many of the stolen cars, along with messages listing details of the makes and models that had been taken.
Cooper pleaded guilty to conspiracy to burgle and conspiracy to handle stolen goods and was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison on August 8th by Birmingham Crown Court. DC Miller, from the Force Priorities and Vulnerabilities Team who led the investigation, stated that Cooper’s mobile phones were a crucial source of evidence for the case. The footage from inside many of the vehicles helped identify the stolen cars and, in some cases, reunite them with their owners. In one clip, Cooper was caught on camera, which helped link him to the offenses.
Fighting car crime is a priority for law enforcement, but everyone can play a role in preventing car theft. It is essential to keep your vehicle locked at all times and check that it is locked before walking away from it. It is also advisable to use a steering lock when parking your car for long periods or overnight and keep your keys in a faraday pouch to prevent the fob’s frequency from being intercepted by car theft gadgets.
