Overview
- In a two‑month spree in autumn 2023, homes across Pendle, Blackburn, the Ribble Valley, Hyndburn and Chorley were targeted for high‑value vehicles.
- Detectives linked the offenders using CCTV, telephone data, fingerprints, DNA and a cracked iPhone recovered from a stolen car.
- Self‑recorded videos on Hamza Ghafoor’s phone, including clips before and after raids and images of a stolen Mercedes, were cited as key evidence.
- Sentences included six years for Hamza Ghafoor; three years nine months for Mohammed Zubhir; three years four months for Jordan May and Denzel Maduma; two years for Kamran Ahmed; a 12‑month youth referral order for Dylan Shuttleworth.
- Police said the thieves often drove stolen cars in high‑speed convoys, recovered hundreds of wraps of crack cocaine and heroin from Ghafoor’s room, and vowed continued action against cross‑border offenders.