£1m Birmingham car theft gang jailed after bragging of crimes on Tik Tok

They are the Birmingham car theft gang who stole 45 vehicles worth £1m and bragged about their crimes on Tik Tok.

Now the six burglars have been jailed for more than 20 years in total after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary at Birmingham Crown Court.

In one TikTok video, posted by a gang member they can be seen wearing masks and breaking into a property before stealing a Hyundai and then hitting speeds in excess of 100 mph in a video from February 2023. Police told how they went to addresses equipped with weapons - and at a burglary in Kings Norton they threatened the homeowner saying they’d stab him if he didn’t hand over his car keys in October last year.

Between March 2022 and May 2023 the thieves targeted houses across Birmingham, Stourbridge, Solihull, Coventry and Warwickshire, stealing keys to high value cars like BMWs, Audis and Mercedes.

The thieves were brazen and gave little regard for their victims. But their offences came to an end when detectives from Birmingham’s Serious and Organised Crime team examined their phones and found recordings of the burglaries being committed, videos of the cars stolen, and internet searches of their registration numbers to get their value.

Two of the gang who were only 16-years-old at the time they were arrested in May 2023 after a member of the public reported a car and occupants acting suspiciously on Groveley Lane in Northfield, Birmingham. When the car was searched they found pepper spray, balaclavas and another set of car keys belonging to a stolen BMW.

The gang were eventually arrested in June 2023. One of the gang, Josh Reid, was found to have a distinctive tattoo on his left hand that matched to TikTok videos he’d filmed of himself, placing him and his accomplices at the scene of the crimes. They all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary and were sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday (September 25). They were jailed as follows:

• Joshua Reid, aged 25, sentenced to four years six months
• Cody Morgan, aged 25, sentenced to three years four months
• Connor O’Keefe-Clancy, aged 19, sentenced to five years
• Ryan Allen, aged 21, sentenced to four years three months
• One boy, aged 16 was sentenced to four years and six months,
• A second teenager, also aged 16, received a two year Youth Rehabilitation Order and will be tagged for one year receiving an overnight curfew.

Detective Constable Kenny Crawford, from Birmingham’s Serious and Organised Crime Team, said: "These offences were a series of brazen, planned and targeted crimes where vehicles were stolen to order and at times sophisticated equipment was used not only to commit the offences but also to block and locate trackers so they could be removed.

"Before committing these crimes the group would research potential locations on their mobile phones even recording images or videos of the attacked properties as well as checking the value of the vehicles they intended to steal. These six offenders have demonstrated a complete lack of remorse for their actions and even recorded their crimes before uploading them onto TikTok for views.

"Their crimes have had a wide-ranging effect on their victims some of which have described it as devastating not only to their home and family life but also in their everyday life with some of them in fear of leaving their houses even to attend hospital appointments.

"The gang didn’t lead lavish lifestyles, with many of them still living with parents. As part of our investigation we recovered a number of the stolen vehicles. We hope their sentences bring some closure to the victims and sends a message to criminals across the West Midlands that we will investigate and bring offenders to justice."