Shameless ‘car cannibals’ stripped our motors bare – the 4 models most at risk

POSING with her new £6,700 Toyota after passing her driving test, Rebecca Bolton couldn’t wait to get behind the wheel.

But just months later, the 26-year-old returned to her parked car to find it missing practically half its parts – stripped bare by brazen thieves dubbed ‘car cannibals’, who flog their stolen wares on the black market.

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Experts say the thieves – who often strike in broad daylight – flog their horde on second hand sites or through back street garages with links to east European organised crime groups. 

The trend has seen bumpers, grilles, bonnets, doors, and headlights torn from cars parked on city centre streets, outside victims’ homes and even at Glastonbury festival.

The shredded vehicles are often written off by insurers, and two victims we spoke to described the response from police as pathetic. 

Rebecca, an actor from Birmingham – which has emerged as the epicentre of the crime phenomenon – told The Sun: “There’s been nothing from the police, absolutely nothing.

“I could almost understand it if it was a one-off freak accident, but I had loads of people message me saying their cars had also been stripped the same week.

“The police just say there’s nothing they can do. It’s a cop out.”

Rebecca had had her full licence just seven months when car cannibals targeted her Toyota Aygo – her first car – parked in a permitted spot in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. 

She returned from a work trip in April to find the vehicle stripped of its bonnet, bumper and headlights – with the driver’s side window also smashed.

“I was horrified,” Rebecca said. “I’m not a big car person, I wasn’t in love with my car, but it upset me that my property had been completely ruined and damaged. 

“I had a bit of a cry on the street and called 101 to report it to the police. The woman I spoke to said it was a massive problem in Birmingham and just suggested I get it towed away. 

“I didn’t want to touch it until it had been seen by the police, but she said they wouldn’t be coming out because there was no point. 

“I had an email notification a few hours later saying my crime report had been read, and literally 45 seconds after there was another one saying the case was closed as there were ‘no lines of enquiry’.

“I couldn’t believe it – the car was parked under a CCTV camera but they told me to try and get the footage myself! I gave up on pressing it further.”

West Midlands Police claim Rebecca was contacted by an officer 13 days after her car was shredded to ascertain where it was parked. 

But Rebecca fumed: “And where was my car by that time? Scattered around a scrapyard. Too late, guys.”

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Lifelong Birmingham City FC fan Paul Need parked his Peugeot 3008 near the club’s ground in May while he watched the blues play their final home game of the season. 

“SThere are 60 or 70 cars park down the same street every match,” said Paul, 59, from Kingstanding, Birmingham. 

“Walking back after the game, we turned the corner and my brother said, ‘Where’s your car?’

“I said, ‘there it is, in bits!’ There were bolts all over the floor, the front end and bonnet were completely gone.

“There was a factory over the road with CCTV outside, I gave the police the address but they weren’t interested. 

“The only time I heard from them was a week later when the local paper got involved – and I haven’t heard a thing from them since. 

“It was eight or nine grand’s worth of damage on a £23,000 car and my insurance company wrote it off on the spot without even looking at it. I’d only had it for four months. It was a nightmare.”

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A post-pandemic shortage of car parts – which has been exacerbated by the Ukraine invasion – is one reason for the crime wave.

Government statistics reveal crimes involving thefts from motor vehicles – which includes car cannibalism – were up 10 per cent last year at 212,900 offences nationwide.

The trend has been seen in parts of Yorkshire, Scotland and Essex, and at least three Land Rovers had doors stolen from them while parked at Glastonbury.

Models most at risk

But the West Midlands is the worst hit, and cars particularly at risk include the Vauxhall Corsa, Toyota Yaris, Ford Fiesta and Renault Clio. 

Almost 20,000 thefts from motor vehicles were reported to West Midlands police between last September and March.

Thieves have struck in Digbeth, Erdington, Sutton Coldfield and Smethwick and – in one worrying escalation – thugs drove at a female victim when she caught them red-handed dismantling her car outside her home. 

Vehicle crime expert and former Detective Chief Superintendent Clive Wain said the epidemic was linked to the rise of backstreet ‘chop shops’ which steal cars and dismantle them for parts.

“We’ve seen a huge increase in chop shops around the country,” explained Mr Wain, head of police liaison with car security specialists Tracker. “Car cannibalisation is a very crude version of that.

“Even basic car parts have shot up in price and become harder to get hold of, so – suddenly – this is a very lucrative market for criminals.

“I do think there’s a level of organisation behind it because the thieves have a ready-made outlet. 

“The vast majority go to chop shops run by crime groups, and there’s a huge influence from eastern Europe in particular in terms of coordinating those thefts.

“To think that these individuals can just strip a vehicle in broad daylight in front of people – it is a very, very worrying turn of events.”

‘Chop shop’ crackdown

West Midlands Police said the force had closed down ‘scores’ of chop shops this year. 

In one raid in Kitts Green, Birmingham, in February, officers arrested 20-year-old Mohammed Khan “in connection with vehicle cannibalisation incidents around the city”.

He faces 11 charges of conspiracy to steal from motor vehicles and is due to stand trial in April 2024.

The force added: “We do not underestimate the impact this crime has on people’s lives and are working hard to bring offenders to justice.

“We know the huge inconvenience of vehicle crime on livelihoods, and personal lives, which is why we’re determined to take this action.

“With the support of the public we can continue to tackle car crime and shut down chop shops which act as a market for car thieves.”