- Do you have a story?
asserted
you → have → story
New footage has emerged of another brazen burglary by a violent 'traveller gang' linked to more than 50 break-ins across London and the Home Counties.
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footage → emerge → London
The Daily Mail revealed yesterday how balaclava-clad 'burglary squads' have been smashing their way into as many as 15 homes a night before making off with luxury watches, jewellery, cash, cars and even entire safes.
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squads → reveal → watches
The Met Police stands accused of failing to tackle the mob, which has been targeting wealthy neighbourhoods since early September and is said to include convicted criminals freed from prison under Labour's early release scheme.
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which → accuse → scheme
CCTV and Ring doorbell footage shows three masked burglars battering their way into a home in Muswell Hill, north London, before making off with a safe.
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burglars → show → safe
As with other break-ins linked to the gang, they appear to use crowbars and brute force to smash through the front door.
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they → link → door
They also appear to be speaking with Irish accents.
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They → appear → accents
One of the criminals can be heard referring to another member of the trio as 'Chris'.
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One → hear → Chris
David McKelvey, a former Met detective chief inspector who now runs private investigations company TM Eye, went public about the burglary spree over fears the crime was 'no longer being treated as a policing priority'.
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crime → run → priority
He believes the gang is made up of Irish Travellers operating in at least three separate teams of three or four men.
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gang → believe → men
The group is said to have been targeting as many as 15 properties a day, excluding Sundays, before returning to traveller sites.
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group → say → sites
Two members of a suspected traveller burglary gang smash down the front door of a home in Muswell Hill, north London
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members → suspect → Hill
As with previous break-ins, the men appear to use crowbars and brute force to smash through the front door
One of the masked men leaving the property - seemingly ignoring an Amazon parcel by the front door
Burglars struck the Muswell Hill home at 6.57pm on September 18.
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Burglars → appear → September
A 28-year-old man who lives at the property with his mother received footage of the break-in via a Ring doorbell alert on his phone and called police but the men were in and out in less than four minutes.
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men → live → minutes
The men are seen arriving and leaving in a car believed to be a Toyota Camry dating from the mid-2010s, a relatively rare model.
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men → see → mid-2010s
The homeowner, who asked not to be identified for security reasons, said she and her son had been left deeply shaken by the ordeal.
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she → ask → ordeal
'My son is autistic and I care for him.
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I → care → him
I was confident about leaving him in the house alone, but this has shaken him so much that I don't do that anymore,' she told the Mail.
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she → leave → Mail
These aren't the burglars of old who would sneak in and steal a VCR.
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who → sneak → VCR
They're violent men who force their way in regardless of whether anyone is home - children, dogs, anyone.
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anyone → force → way
They're striking early in the evening when people are still out and about.
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people → strike → evening
There were pedestrians walking past our house just 10 minutes beforehand, and cars driving by while they were inside.'
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they → be → house
The woman said two community police officers visited shortly after the break-in and spoke to her son.
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officers → say → son
She claims she has not received an update since and accused the Met of failing to take the incident seriously enough.
uncertain
she → claim → incident
They provided a crime reference number and a leaflet, but I haven't heard from them since.
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I → provide → them
They didn't even leave a name.
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They → leave → name
'Forensics officers arrived 28 hours later, by which time I had already had to secure the property because the front door had been smashed open.
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door → arrive → property
The police don't appear to think violent home invasions are worth properly investigating.
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invasions → appear → ?
We feel unsafe in our own homes and are left feeling like sitting ducks.'
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We → feel → ducks
Mr McKelvey believes the Muswell Hill burglary was carried out by the same gang his team is investigating.
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team → believe → gang
'They carried out 15 burglaries and home invasions in a single night and 50 in the space of two weeks,' he said.
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he → carry → weeks
'They were chased by police on Saturday night and have been lying low since.
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They → chase → night
The men appeared in a car, believed to be a mid-2010s Toyota Camry - a relatively rare model
One of the gang running out of the house in north London carrying a safe
A close-up video still showing one of the men's faces.
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men → appear → faces
He is seen wearing a face mask with camoflage patterning
The raids have been concentrated in affluent areas of north London, including Hampstead and Highgate, as well as parts of Hertfordshire.
Mr McKelvey suspects some gang members include men convicted of burglary after his investigators passed intelligence to police in 2022 and 2023.
At least two were subsequently released under Labour's early release scheme and may be among the current suspects, he believes.
uncertain
he → see → suspects
Two of the suspects are believed to have convictions for similar offences as recently as 2024, while another is thought to be a man who absconded from an open prison earlier this year, according to Mr McKelvey.
uncertain
who → believe → McKelvey
One of the first raids linked to the gang took place on September 11, when burglars broke into a Highgate property occupied by a mother and her children.
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burglars → link → mother
Another break-in captured on video took place in nearby Grange Park, Enfield, on October 2.
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in → capture → October
The clip begins with a lone man smashing the front door four times with a crowbar, sending shards of glass flying.
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shards → begin → glass
He appears to reach through the shattered panel to open the door from the inside, but fails.
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He → appear → inside
A second man then appears and sprays the doorstep before being joined by a third.
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man → appear → third
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia
