One theft took place when a three-year-old child was still in the car

A proactive investigation launched by officers in North London uncovered a sophisticated organised crime network using a keyless theft device disguised as a Gameboy.

Cars were stolen from Barnet, Enfield, Haringey, Redbridge, Waltham Forest, Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Newham boroughs using the device that allowed them to quickly open the targeted vehicles and start them. The thefts could take seconds and looked no different from a person opening the car with a key.

Through data analysis and intelligence, officers discovered £2million worth of cars had been stolen by the group between October 2018 and December 2022.

Five men were sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday (27th) for a range of vehicle theft offences. The group were sentenced to a total of 13 years and five months between them.

Detective Constable Dave Van Der Valk said: “Thanks to the hard work and perseverance of highly skilled officers in the Met, we have been able to disrupt a sophisticated crime operation.

“There were two layers of victims in this case – those who had their cars stolen and those who bought the stolen cars. Those who bought the stolen cars without realising were truly the most affected as they did not receive any compensation from insurance companies which meant there were 170 victims affected by the heartless behaviour of the group.

“This verdict, and lengthy two-year investigation that led to it, demonstrate that we’ll leave no stone unturned in our pursuit to catch criminals who look to enjoy the proceeds of illicit funds – no matter how complex the case.”  

The investigation into the group first began in January 2022 when officers discovered that a series of car thefts in North London were linked.

Working closely with other specialist officers in the Met and the DVLA, officers were able to uncover the identities of the individuals involved. They then executed 20 warrants in February 2023.

Evidence was gathered with the help of police services around the UK and the true extent of the offending that had taken place was uncovered.

This led to the identification of Alfie Brown, aged 31 and of Aberdeen Road, Edmonton, and Andre Clarke, aged 33 and of Beehive Road, Goff’s Oak, as lead figures of the network along with another man, with each of them involved in the theft, cloning or sale of each vehicle.

In May 2021, Brown and Clarke were linked to the theft of a Volvo in the Chigwell area. The vehicle was stolen while the owner’s three-year-old-child was still inside. When the pair realised what they had done they came to a sudden stop which left the child with minor injuries. They subsequently abandoned the car with the child still inside.

Officers established that the purchasers would meet Brown or Clarke when purchasing the vehicles and pretended to be car dealers, even providing fake invoices and service history documents. These sales also uncovered the extensive network of money launderers used by the group.

Through extensive financial analysis officers found that Clarke even set up a business account called ‘ACC Motors LTD’ to receive payments from victims or launderers.

David Burvill, aged 36 and of Eastwood Rise, Leigh-on-Sea, and Mark Preece, aged 30 and of Shakespeare Road, Romford, then assisted the group by laundering £78,000 from the sale of the stolen cars.

The group were able to evade detection for so long by successfully cloning number plates and vehicle log documents, committing fraud against the DVLA, which made the selling of the vehicles appear even more legitimate. The clones were convincing enough that the group were even able to sell the vehicles to car dealers.

Marcin Gorecki, aged 40 and of Eleanor Way, Waltham Cross, was employed at British Car Auction and was found to be the networks longest launderer. He assisted in selling a Jaguar which had been exchanged for a stolen vehicle with cloned plates to a car dealership in Essex in 2019.

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