Greater Manchester Police: Seven people sentenced after stealing more than £4 million worth of vehicles

Seven people have been sentenced at Manchester Crown Square this week who were part of an Organised Crime Group (OCG) guilty of stealing millions of pounds worth of vehicles.   In total, the group 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. Greater Manchester Police 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. The names and their sentences are listed below.

• 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 and 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.

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