"They targeted primarily lone motorists and often female drivers."
Sarweeth Rehman and Hussun Ashraf, both aged 22, of Birmingham, were jailed for six years each on Tuesday, October 23, 2018, at Birmingham Crown Court for a series of violent car robberies.
The Court heard that they were behind several carjackings throughout Birmingham and Solihull after police found a phone Ashraf dropped in a car.
This linked them to a series of car robberies involving a tow truck in 2016.
Seven vehicles were stolen by the two men over a period three months which happened on August 24, 2017.
The first of their crimes saw Rehman demand a driver of a BMW M4 to hand over his keys in Baxter’s Green, Shirley.
Both men wore balaclavas and threatened the man with metal poles. The driver threw his keys into a nearby garden and fled the scene.
Rehman later smashed up the car, causing £10,000 worth of damage.
Hours later, the two men stole a VW Golf Type R after they dragged a woman from behind the wheel on Hathaway Road, Shirley.
On September 18, 2017, they stole a man’s Audi RS6 in Moseley, Birmingham.
Other incidents include punching a woman and threatening a man with a knife and golf club before stealing their cars.
According to police, the two men usually targeted lone drivers and female drivers.
Detective Constable Chris Elmore, of West Midlands Police, said:
“They targeted primarily lone motorists and often female drivers.”
“A grotesque level of violence was used and some of the victims suffered nasty injuries after being attacked with weapons.”
Police tracked the Audi less than an hour later in Harborne, Birmingham, where they found the iPhone dropped by Ashraf.
His home in Stechford was searched by police and found another phone hidden in a wardrobe which showed that the two men were responsible for further carjackings.
The Court heard that Rehman and Ashraf carried out other robberies while on bail for suspected thefts using a tow truck between May 4 and June 13, 2016.
The two men acted with two others to steal cars using a yellow tow truck.
Investigators found a message from Ashraf which read: “Got 2 cars today, M135i and a Corsa, we found them daytime.”
Rehman’s phone revealed contact between him and the seller of a breakdown truck.
CCTV footage showed the two men attacking a driver with the intent of stealing the vehicle and using the tow truck to steal cars.
Watch the Shocking footage
Associate Adal Azam of Birmingham admitted to being part of the tow truck gang.
Rehman and Ashraf admitted conspiracy to rob, conspiracy to steal motor vehicles and two counts of assault with intent to rob.
Hussun Ashraf was jailed for six years and four months, while Sarweeth Rehman was sentenced to six years.
Adal Azam received a jail sentence of three years and ten months.
Shoaib Hussain from Bromford, a fourth man, also pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal cars and was given a 12 month suspended jail sentence at an earlier hearing on October 20, 2018.
DC Elmore added: “I’m pleased the court has recognised the extent and severity of their offending and handed down lengthy to considerably more.”
“They have pleaded to their roles in certain offences but we suspect they may have been linked to considerably more.”
“We recovered several of the stolen cars, including an Audi A1 taken with the low-loader that was found behind a row of shops in Alum Rock Road alongside an identical A1 believed to have been bought at a salvage auction.”
“That provided yet more proof of cars being stolen to order for spare parts to repair vehicles that are being sold as repairable write-offs.”
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