Birmingham car stripping: Parts found in raid at suspect's home

Car cannibalism has been on the rise which police think is because thieves don't want to risk stealing the whole car

A raid at a property has found multiple vehicle parts after an investigation into car stripping in Birmingham.

West Midlands Police attended a property in Kitts Green on Wednesday and arrested a 20-year-old man on suspicion of conspiracy to commit theft from a motor vehicle.

The operation follows multiple accounts shared with the BBC from car stripping victims in the city.

Police said the suspect jumped over a garden fence before his arrest.

Police arrested the man from a property in Kitts Green, Birmingham

The 20-year-old, who is allegedly linked to six incidents in Birmingham and Sutton Coldfield, eventually returned to the address after a drone team was deployed.

Police said officers discovered multiple parts of different vehicles in a garden shed including bumpers, batteries and wing mirrors.

A partially dismantled car was also seized from the drive.

Car cannibalism

Det Supt Jim Munro said he had seen a change in the way people were stealing cars.

He said people were not wanting to risk taking "the whole vehicle, placing it in a unit and then stripping it".

"We are adjusting our intelligence and our focus and working with our local communities to ensure we are arresting people," he said.

There has been a spate of car part thefts around Birmingham, including a string in Digbeth

Victims of this crime have spoken to the BBC about returning to car parks to find their vehicle without a bumper.

"I sat down and shut my door, I heard glass shatter, looked to the side of me and my window was completely smashed," said Meg Matthews, just one of the victims who shared her story with the BBC.

"That's when I looked forward and realised my bonnet was missing," she added.

Ms Matthews said she had felt abandoned by the police, saying no officers had been sent out to see her.

Det Supt Munro said he was "sorry to hear of those experiences, if that is the case".

However he offered his "assurance" to people that police were taking this type of crime seriously.