In the cannibal car capital of Birmingham – as resident says: ‘I’m numb now’

Almost every day I wake up with a new car shredded on the streets, right in front of my apartment building. It’s unusual if I don’t see shards of glass on the side of the road under a car without its headlights, hood and bumper.

I have become completely numb to ‘car cannibalism’ – a crime that plagues the streets of Birmingham and certainly those where I live in the Jewelery Quarter. Not because I don’t care – in fact I’ve written about this issue several times in 2021 and 2022 – but because it’s simply become part of the landscape.

Residents living on Camden Street and Pope Street have been urging the police to crack down on this epidemic for years. But I know, being one of those residents, that nothing has improved.

READ MORE: Jewelery Quarter residents fear ‘car crime on the rise’ as they wake up with vehicles decimated

Daring car thieves routinely wreak havoc just steps from our living rooms. In fact, it happens so often – and seemingly without any repercussion or consequence – that I really think they’re laughing at us.

Our dimly lit streets, conspicuously devoid of CCTV, are nothing more than a playground for these criminals who usually arrive in the dead of night but also strike during the day. Every week residents, some of whom I know personally, shell out hundreds of pounds to fix their cars.

Or worse, insurance companies deem the damage to their vehicles so bad that they’re simply not worth repairing. Instead, the landfill beckons.

I’ve seen enough car cannibalism now to know which models are targeted. Drivers of Vauxhall Corsas, Ford Fiestas and Toyota Yarris/Aygos seem to suffer the most.

These models are at risk because they are notoriously easy and quick to disassemble. When I pass one of those cars outside my apartment, I can’t help but think that it’s only a matter of time before they’re broken.

Stolen car parts often end up in illegal garages, known as “chop shops”, before eventually being sold in black market transactions. This can be right under our noses on popular sites such as eBay and Gumtree.

The feeling from car cannibal victims I’ve spoken to in my area is that the police are not doing enough – both in preventing the crime and in finding those responsible. “The police informed me on the first day that they were not going to investigate,” one victim told me in 2022.

Another victim, whose smashed car cost £350 to repair, said: “It feels like an epidemic.” A third added: “It’s shocking – but unfortunately the police aren’t interested.

“They emailed me a crime number and that was it.” However, West Midlands Police say the force cares.

Following a recent raid on the workshop, Pc Joseph Gigli said: “Vehicle crime is a force priority for us. We are committed to disrupting it in our areas and bringing to justice the criminals who play a role in it.”

All I know from personal experience is that the residents who live in the Jewelery Quarter deserve better. The sad reality is that this is not a new problem.

Even more depressing is that it’s not one that seems to be going away anytime soon.