Cocky criminal with 'S20LUN' number plate is jailed

Shanwaz Khan's illegal operation got noticed by police when seen in a Audi RS4 with the personalised number plate of S20LUN in a convoy of stolen Mercedes in Birmingham.

Officers discovered the 30-year-old was behind a ring that stole and stripped down cars at industrial units, including in Dudley and Tipton, to sell on as parts on eBay.

A court heard in total police linked the crook to more than 80 vehicle thefts and violent carjackings during 2012 - valued at £1.1 million.

Khan, of Marsh Lane in Erdington, was jailed for seven years at Birmingham Crown Court after admitted conspiracy to commit burglary and handle stolen goods.

His brother Wajid Khan, 24, of Brookvale Road in Erdington, and cousin Seyed Khan, 32, of Marsh Lane, received 30-month prison sentences after admitting conspiracy to handle stolen goods.

Fellow conspirators Ross and Matthew Dunham, aged 21 and 24, of Charter Avenue in Canley, Coventry, were jailed for five years and 39 months respectively after admitting conspiracy to commit burglaries.

Detective Constable Mo Azir, said: "The brazen attitude of Shanwaz Khan was typified by his personalised number plate.

"This was a clear jibe at the authorities and he believed his underground theft racket was going unnoticed. The joke is on him now, though, as he starts a long prison term."

He added: "We meticulously pieced together their network of premises and, when officers raided one unit in Aston, we found an Aladdin's cave of stolen cars and parts.

"Many of these were high-value luxury cars that had been brutishly 'chopped' up, whilst another premises in the city centre was used exclusively to store engines ripped from the stolen cars.

"The scale of their criminal operation was vast and they showed a complete disregard to the trail of destruction and misery left behind to victims of these offences."

After Shanwaz Khan was spotted with the number plate in March in 2012, a six-month investigation by police led officers to the four other group members.

The gang were linked to 82 vehicle thefts during 2012.

They included a petrol station car-jacking at the Total garage in Kingsbury Road, Erdington, on August 29 when a man was dragged from behind the wheel of his £25,000 Ford Focus ST.

Two Mercedes C Class cars were also taken from a driveway in Grovefield Crescent, Balsall Common on April 27 and a Seat Leon taken form a house in Coventry on June 11.

Shanwaz Khan stripped down cars and stored parts at industrial units in Cheston Road, Nechells, Northfield Road in Dudley, Kings Industrial Estate in Tipton and Orphanage Road in Erdington.

He also rented space at City Self Storage, in Curzon Street, Digbeth, to stash stolen engines before shipping many of them abroad.

More than 3,000 parts stripped from the cars were sold on to unwitting internet buyers via an eBay account operated by the Khans.

Det Con Azir said: "The premises were leased by the Khans using false names and documentation. Many of the cars were stolen to order for engines which the Khans shipped out to the continent.

"All five are subject of on-going Proceeds of Crime Act investigations and we'll look to seize any assets obtained through criminal activities."