Seven people sentenced after stealing more than £4million worth of vehicles over a 10-month period

From Monday 24-26 July 2023, seven people were sentenced at Manchester Crown Square as the defendants, who were part of an Organised Crime Group (OCG), faced 299 separate indictments.

The OCG was made up of eight people aged between 15 and 20 and were responsible for a vast amount of burglary and thefts across Manchester, stretching into Cheshire, which began in 2021.

GMP officers identified an OCG who were responsible for committing burglaries on homes in order to steal high-value cars on an industrial scale and almost always whilst victims were home and asleep upstairs.

The stolen vehicles were then disposed of by various means including recovered on cloned plates and using 'chop shops' which involves stripping down undamaged, perfectly working vehicles to sell as parts vehicles.

• Maliq Hutchinson-Khan (01/08/03) was sentenced to 31 months for 3 burglaries and 3 attempted burglaries. He was also sentenced for a domestic violence assault where he received a further 8 months to run consecutively.
• Niall Ritchie (15/03/05) was sentenced to a 3-year youth referral order for 8 burglaries and 4 attempted burglaries. He also received 200 hours unpaid work, a 3-month curfew and no contact with his co-defendants.
• Taylor Burns (18/07/04) was sentenced 28 months for 3 burglaries, 1 aggravated taking without consent, 1 allowing himself to be carried in a vehicle taken without consent. The value of his offending totalled £153,000.
• Callum Parkes (16/09/03) was sentenced to 40 months for 5 burglaries and 23 handling stolen goods. The value of his offending totalled £600,000.
• A 16-year-old boy was sentenced for 13 burglaries, 5 attempted burglaries, 4 thefts from vehicles parked at Manchester Airport and 2 driving offences. The value of his offending totalled £512,000. He had been on remand for 9 months and was sentenced to a 3-year youth rehabilitation order, with 180 days activity requirement, a 3-month curfew, no contact with his co-defendants and was disqualified from driving for 12 months.
• A 17-year-old boy was sentenced for 12 burglaries, 3 attempted burglaries, 3 charges of handling stolen goods and 1 charge of criminal damage. The total value of his offending was £804,000.
• A 17-year-old boy was sentenced to 24 months detention and training order for 3 burglaries, 19 theft of motor vehicles, 19 handling stolen goods, 1 dangerous driving for 15 months and needs to take an extended test. The value of his offending totalled £1.2million.
• Another 16-year-old boy has been sent to the youth court for sentencing on Monday 7 August 2023.

There have been some harrowing victim personal statements read out in court where members of the public have been quite badly affected. Officers have spoken to many victims who have included:

• A man who works for the NHS as an advanced practitioner, he works on a busy intensive care unit and struggled to get to work.
• One woman who hasn’t been able to sleep in her own bed since last September.
• Another young woman who through trauma and anxiety following the burglary had physio and treatment for cluster headaches where her face dropped, similar to when someone has a stroke.
• Another young woman whose father was living with her and who was receiving palliative care at the time, he saw the burglars which made him fear for his safety. They moved him out the following day, but he sadly died a few days later, with his daughter not having seen him whilst she organised the insurance company and aftermath following the burglary.
• Another family have now moved from their home as it would have a profound effect on their autistic and registered disabled daughter.
• A young woman who was booked in at hospital on the Monday morning to have a surgical procedure for a miscarriage having gone through the pain and trauma of a miscarriage that weekend, the car was stolen in the early hours of that Monday. The father had to look after the young children whilst the mother had to travel via public transport to get to hospital on her own.

Detective Constable Chris Chinnery, of GMP’s Serious Organised Crime Group, said: “I must thank the victims for coming forward and working with us. They have been very appreciative of the work our dedicated team of officers has done over the course of this extensive investigation.

“There have been some harrowing victim personal statements where members of the public have been quite badly affected.

“The OCG is responsible for targeting homes with high-value vehicles at night. The impact on the community is colossal, as the vehicles are being stolen whilst the victims sleep upstairs.

“Their offending was on a vast scale, operating across the Greater Manchester area and having significant ramifications on the victims.

“The evidence captured on the defendant’s phone indicated they were involved in the commission of the primary offences and shows them in or near stolen vehicles immediately after the offences.

“A huge part of the evidence was recovered from the defendant’s own mobile phones, as once they had stolen the vehicles, they filmed each other stood with, or driving them. In most cases with the burglaries, they snapped the locks of UPVC doors, and entered the house looking for car keys, sometimes posting their endeavours on SnapChat.

“One of the group also had a device used for the keyless thefts of Range Rovers, Land Rovers and Jaguars and stole two Range Rover SVR’s within an hour, one was valued at £107,000 and the other £78,000. In one night, some of the group were responsible for the theft of six cars, four from the same house.

“Thanks to our exceptional officers, we’ve been able to secure some positive sentencings this week.”

Communities are a vital part of helping to reduce crime and providing us with information that may assist with our on-going investigations. If you have information relating to serious and organised crime, please report it via Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or Greater Manchester Police by calling 101.