Prolific car thief who stole more than 60 cars in West Midlands is jailed

A man has been jailed for stealing more than 60 cars before scrapping them to make thousands of pounds.

Over two years between 2020 and 2022 Eddie McDonagh travelled around the West Midlands in his tow truck looking for cars to steal.

He would lift cars from outside the owner's addresses and place them on his tow truck before driving off.

The 41-year-old made thousands of pounds by scrapping the cars, sometimes before the owners had even realised they had gone.

He would use the same tow truck but often changed the number plate to evade getting caught.

On a couple of occasions, McDonough stole two cars on the same day from outside different addresses in Birmingham.

He was captured on a number of CCTV cameras transporting the vehicles across the city to be scrapped.

The thief's offending began to unravel when the owner of a car he was trying to steal in Harborne confronted him, when McDonough punched the man and left with his vehicle.

On 23 January officers executed a warrant at his home in Kingstanding where the tow truck and high vis jackets he was captured wearing on CCTV were seized.

Leaflets were also found in the tow truck advertising ‘Eddy’s Cars’ and ‘Cash for Cars’.

At Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday (11 July) McDonough pleaded guilty to 64 counts of theft of motor vehicles and fraud and was sentenced to two years and seven months in prison.

PC Choudhury from the Vehicle Crime Taskforce, said: “McDonough was brazen in his offending, he really thought he would continue to get away with stealing other people’s cars and profiting from it.

“This was a full-time job for McDonough who made tens of thousands of pounds through what he was doing.

“We are committed to tackling vehicle crime and would always urge the public to get in touch if they have any information. It can really make a difference.”