Car thieves jailed after gang member filmed himself

A group of thieves who stole a range of luxury cars across Lancashire have been jailed thanks to evidence helped by a gang member who filmed himself.

The cars, worth up to £79,000, were often driven in convoy at high speed after being taken while their owners slept, and some were involved in collisions.

Mobile phone footage seized by police showed thief Hamza Ghafoor, who was jailed for six years, recording himself while pulling a balaclava over his face, revealing he was about to commit a burglary.

Four other men were jailed at Bolton Crown Court for a total of 11 years, while a teenager linked to the gang was given a youth referral order.

The men, who come from Oswaldtwistle and parts of West Yorkshire, broke into a series of properties in autumn 2023.

Among the stolen cars were two BMWs taken while their owners were on holiday in Cambodia.

Ghafoor filmed himself inside one of the cars and police later found a Louis Vuitton bag containing 926 wraps of crack cocaine and 319 wraps of heroin in his bedroom.

On a separate occasion, a £35,000 Volkswagen Tiguan was stolen in Colne and abandoned after a pursuit in Keighley, West Yorkshire, with its £2,500 sound system stripped out.

A £79,000 BMW X3 was also stolen in Langho, near Blackburn, with the owner only becoming aware when he was woken by police telling him it had been involved in a crash in Bradford.

The thieves' DNA were found on airbags, lighters and a bag inside the BMW.

A few days later, an Audi SQ5 and two debit cards were also stolen from outside a property in Clitheroe.

Both cards were used within a few hours at stores, where CCTV footage of the burglar's expenditure was used as evidence.

Other stolen cars included Audis, a Volkswagen Golf and a Mercedes.

Det Con Tom Archer, from Lancashire Police, said: "These persistent criminals, who cross borders to commit crime, cause havoc and great distress to many hardworking individuals."

Six people were convicted of conspiring to commit a burglary and conspiring to steal a motor vehicle.

The sentences in full are:

• Jordan May, 23, of no fixed address, was jailed for three years and four months
• Dylan Shuttleworth, 18, of Trinity Street, Oswaldtwistle, was given a 12-month youth referral order
• Hamza Ghafoor, 22, of Sunderland Road, Bradford, was jailed for six years.
• Mohammed Zubhir, 24, of Clayton Road, Bradford, was jailed for three years and nine months
• Denzel Maduma, 20, of Thorpe Audlin, Pontefract, was jailed for three years and four months
• Kamran Ahmed, 23, of Thorpe Street, Halifax was jailed for two years

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