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Car thief who crowed online after £4m spree jailed

Kyle Camp's gang stole vehicles to order across Greater Manchester

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by BBC NEWS

World25 January 2025 - 17:01
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In Summary


  • The 30-year-old, who pleaded guilty at Manchester Crown Court to burglary, theft, robbery and handling stolen goods, was sentenced to 14 years and four months.
  • Seven others, aged between 15 and 20, have already been convicted for their roles in the burglaries, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said.

Car thief who crowed online after £4m spree jailed /SCREENGRAB/BBC


The ringleader of a gang which stole £4m worth of luxury cars after breaking into the owners' homes and threatening them at knifepoint has been jailed.

Kyle Camp's gang stole vehicles to order across Greater Manchester, which were then dismantled in chop shops and sold abroad.

The 30-year-old, who pleaded guilty at Manchester Crown Court to burglary, theft, robbery and handling stolen goods, was sentenced to 14 years and four months.

Seven others, aged between 15 and 20, have already been convicted for their roles in the burglaries, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said.

They began stealing cars in 2021, often while their victims were at home and asleep in bed.

GMP said one terrified victim relocated to another part of the country as a result of what had happened.

Det Con Chris Chinnery said building the case against Camp had involved "meticulous searching through mobile phone evidence" that showed him "bragging about his stolen cars" on social media.

Threatened with knife

On 28 December 2021, Camp was involved in the theft of a car from Moston.

After it was found 11 days later with false number plates, officers found a partial DNA match - linked to Camp - on a snood that had been left in the driver's seat.

Police also said Camp entered a property in Droylsden after drilling the lock on the back door.

He then stole a Volkswagen Golf and keys to a Volkswagen Transporter.

Just hours later, Camp and his accomplices stole another car from a Chadderton home.

They were heard by the owner, who happened to be awake at 03:00.

He saw a man in a balaclava, looking through his kitchen window, accompanied by two men with knives.

The victim tried to stop them from entering his house, but the gang were able to steal the keys and escape with his car.

Nearly three weeks later, in Uppermill, Oldham, Camp and another man followed another victim from his friend's house as he made his way home.

As the victim parked on his drive and left his car, the pair approached him before violently assaulting him and threatening him with a knife and pinning him to the ground.

The offenders stole his keys and drove BMW.

Officers recovered the car the next day, fitted with false plates.

'Huge emotional impacts'

Camp and his accomplices went on to commit more car thefts, including threatening one driver in Rochdale.

Another victim was woken up and dragged out of his bed, forced to wake his brother, and hand over the keys to their BMW.

They also targeted a woman as she arrived home in Denton and demanded her car keys before stealing the vehicle and colliding with another car.

Further crimes involved breaking into more houses to steal BMW car keys before taking the car, and stealing motorbikes.

The court heard Camp was involved in 15 different burglaries during a two-month period.

He was eventually arrested at a kebab shop on 12 July 2023.

Camp answered "no comment" when questioned by detectives and originally pleaded not guilty in court before admitting the charges against him.

Police said Camp and his gang operated on an "industrial scale" and their victims suffered "huge emotional impacts".

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