CCTV shows 'car cannibal' strip VW Golf GTI for parts to sell on 'black market' outside Sutton Coldfield home
This is the shocking moment a brazen ‘car cannibal’ walked off with a stolen bumper after a dad’s motor was attacked for the second time.
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Shocking footage shows a brazen ‘car cannibal’ walk away with a stolen bumper after a dad’s motor was attacked for the second time.
Jeremy Merckel woke up to discover his beloved Volkswagen Golf GTI had been stripped for parts outside his home.
Thieves had torn the bumper, headlights, windscreen wipers, grille and even the bonnet off his £17,000 motor.
Footage from Jeremy’s neighbour’s Ring doorbell caught one of the crooks casually walking away with the bumper over his shoulder.
The car was parked outside Jeremy’s home in Sutton Coldfield when it was attacked at around 2am last Sunday, March 16.
It is the second time car cannibals – who target certain motors to strip for parts to sell on the black market – had targeted Jeremy’s car.
In September 2023 the dad-of-three had parked the same Golf outside his home when it was stripped bare.
The marketing director now says his insurance has skyrocketed thanks to the two thefts and expects his renewal quote to be over £1,500.
Jeremy, 50, who lives at the property with his wife Andy and their three children, said: “It’s the second time this car has been targeted, it’s a Golf GTI which to some people will be amazing.
“It’s a six-year-old car which is not the most amazing thing, even on the street there’s more valuable cars.
“The first time was in September 2023 when I was woken by a neighbour who said the bumper had been stolen.
“This time I received another message from a neighbour saying my car had been done again.
“This time they took all the bodywork from the windscreen forward. The bonnet, the headlight, the front grille and the bumper.
“It’s my pride and joy, it’s a hobby as well as a family car. I’d been to Silverstone with it the day before and just washed it, too. It’s much more personal to me.
“When I watched my neighbour’s Ring doorbell footage I couldn’t believe how brazen the thief was just carrying my bumper over his shoulder.
“From what I can understand they can literally do that in a couple of minutes.
"They may have broken a few pieces taking it off but nothing that damages it.
“They want the parts for another vehicle. It’s literally stealing to order. This is quite an organised thing.”
Jeremy says he reported both car cannibal thefts to West Midlands Police but has not heard if anyone had been caught.
He added: “I think this is a problem for Birmingham, there seems to be an epidemic of these car cannibals.
“The recovery truck which took my car away to be repaired had even been stripped a few weeks ago so literally no-one is safe.
“I’m afraid the police seem powerless to stop these thieves and they seem to know it too, it’s brazen and I’ve heard of people having their cars stripped down after parking them on busy streets in the daytime.
“There was a real spate of Toyotas and other cars being stripped in the area recently and my neighbour’s car got stripped the other year.
“I don’t know why the Golf is chosen, no clue. My big fear is I don't know what to do as I street park, I can’t stick it in a cage.
“I’m not sure it’s just about Golfs, it's whatever they’ve got that needs repairing.
“It does seem to be a Birmingham thing, people outside of Birmingham don’t see this as a thing.
“Last time it happened it more or less doubled my insurance on that car.
“I’m paying £700 at the moment but I'm expecting it to go up to about £1,500. It’ll more or less double.
“It’s made my wife and the youngest of my kids really unsettled, they don’t like the fact that these sorts of people are out there near our house.
“These parts can’t be tracked to anything, you can go anywhere and buy a Golf bonnet. You’d never know where it came from.”
A West Midlands Police spokesperson said: "We are investigating after a car was stripped of its parts - widely known as car cannibalism.
"CCTV enquiries are ongoing to identify who is responsible. We are committed to identifying and arresting those responsible for stripping parts from parked cars.
"Over the last 18 months we’ve charged several people, including two who we believe are among the most prolific offenders in the area, and we will continue to gather intelligence to tackle this problem."
The force added that CCTV inquiries were ongoing to identify who was responsible.
