Tip-off led police to £300k car thief gang

An eagle-eyed passer-by brought an end to a £300,000 crime spree by a gang of West Midland car thieves. He spotted men breaking the window of a £35,000 BMW M5 parked in Lymington Road, Willenhall.

He gave police the vital tip that helped catch the gang of crooks. Officers were soon at the scene and quickly arrested three suspects. Wolverhampton Crown Court heard yesterday that 20-year-old Justin Hadley was detained in a neighbouring street with a glass hammer.

Hasan Mohammed, aged 29, was seized following a chase and James Watters, 26, was found 30 minutes later hiding under a parked van in Wolverhampton Road West, the court was told.

Hugh O'Brien-Quinn, prosecuting, said police also found a BMW ignition key and the electronic "brains" needed to start a BMW.

These included the item required to spark the ignition and the computerised electronic management gear.

The equipment had been removed from a BMW M5 belonging to a relative of one of the arrested men. The car was later found in an industrial unit in Charles Henry Street, Digbeth, that was run by Tariq Zaman, 31, and 36-year-old Fayaz Ahmed.

Police also found parts from stolen vehicles including a £40,000 BMW M3 taken by the gang from outside a house in Moseley.

The gang stole or tried to steal six BMWs and a VW Scirocco in five months starting in May 2010 when a £55,000 BMW M3 was taken in Streetly after its "brain" was replaced. Mr O'Brien-Quinn said the vehicles were stripped at premises run by Zaman and Ahmed and the parts then sold on ebay.

A VW Scirocco was taken from Bewdley Drive, Kidderminster, on July 17 2010 and parts of it later discovered at the Digbeth industrial unit.

Cars, including two BMW M3s, were also taken from addresses in Leicestershire and Northamptonshire.

On October 21 2010 a £40,000 BMW M3 was taken in Whitley Avenue, Halesowen, and found dismantled at an industrial unit in Hockley. Five days later police made the three arrests in Willenhall.