Violent traveller 'burglary squads' linked with 50 house break-ins as Met Police accused of failing to tackle crime spree

Violent traveller 'burglary squads' have been linked to 50 break-ins across London and the Home Counties - with police accused of failing to tackle the crime spree. 

Groups of black-clad thugs have been smashing their way into homes in wealthy neighbourhoods before making off with hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of cash, jewellery, expensive watches and even entire safes. 

Doorcam footage of one of the raids shows three masked men using crowbars to batter their way through the front door of a house in an affluent north London suburb, before stealing the keys to a £100,000 Mercedes parked on the drive.

In a sign of their professionalism, one of the men is seen spraying a substance - believed to be ammonia - on the ground in a bid to destroy DNA evidence.

David McKelvey, a former Met detective chief inspector who now runs private investigation company TM Eye, said he had traced 50 burglaries, aggravated burglaries and attempted burglaries by the gang since they started their spree in early September. 

The raids have been concentrated in high-end neighbourhoods in north London, including Hampstead and Highgate, as well as parts of Hertfordshire. TM Eye began investigating because its sister private security company patrols some of the areas. 

Mr McKelvey believes the gang is made up of Irish travellers operating in at least three separate teams consisting of three or four men. The men are striking up to 15 properties every day - except Sundays - before returning to traveller sites.

He suspects some of the gang include men who were convicted in burglary after his investigators passed information to police in 2022 and 2023. 

Shocking video footage posted to Facebook showed the moment three masked men battered their way through the front door of a house in an affluent north London suburb

One of the men is initially seen trying to crowbar the door before he resorts to booting it down with his foot

A third burglar is later seen joining the break-in donning an all-black outfit and a mask

The former detective claims at least two of them were subsequently released under Labour's early release scheme and may be among the current suspects. 

'This type of offence is escalating because the Met Police has dismantled dedicated burglary squads to save money and burglary is no longer a priority for the force,' he told the Daily Mail. 

'Residents in the areas we patrol are terrified their property is going to be next. These offenders are violent and have a total disregard for whether the property is occupied or not with terrified homeowners having to face the masked intruders forcing their way into their homes on many occasions.

'This shocking footage is the reality facing communities across north London.'

One of the first raids traced to the gang happened on September 11, when burglars broke into a property in Highgate occupied by a mother and her children.

There were five burglaries or attempted burglaries in the Highgate area on September 30 and two in the same area the night before. 

The break-in captured on doorcam happened in nearby Grange Park in Enfield on October 2. 

It starts with a lone man smashing the front door four times with a crowbar - sending shards of glass flying into the air. He appears to reach through the broken glass panel to open the door from the inside, but fails to do so. 

A second man then appears and sprays the doorstep before he is joined by a third. Together, they take turns to kick at the door before it finally caves in. 

A dog can be heard barking as the three men burst in. 

They had arrived at the house in a blue BMW 430i Gran Coupe M Sport fitted with fake plates.

Mr McKelvely's separate private security company My Local Bobby carries out residential beat patrols in many of the areas that have been struck by the gang.

In two cases the suspects fled after My Local Bobby officers arrived on the scene and in a third, they fled after being confronted by the homeowner who was inside.

TM Eye have linked the gang to six stolen vehicles. They are understood to start off in legitimate taxed and insured vehicles, before switching to stolen cars with fake registration plates to carry out the raids.

The stolen vehicles are then believed to be wiped with ammonia before they are hidden and the suspects leave in the other cars. 

Mr McKelvey added: 'We are dealing with highly organised, prolific criminals who we believe are linked to more than 50 burglaries and home invasions across North London, Hertfordshire and the Thames Valley in recent weeks. There were 15 offences on one night alone.

'They are organised and experienced and use stolen vehicles and false registration plates.

'I warned about the consequences of dismantling dedicated burglary squads and moving experienced detectives elsewhere to prop up other overstretched policing units.

'More recently, I gave warnings that prolific burglars imprisoned following earlier investigations would eventually be released, and that some would return to exactly the same offending. That warning is now becoming reality.'

Two of the suspects are believed to have convictions for similar offending as recently as in 2024 and one is thought to be a man who absconded from an open prison earlier this year, Mr McKelvey said.

But he claimed the Met Police had not initially taken the latest spate of burglaries seriously enough, with his firm, which is sharing its intelligence with the force, having to get the office of London Mayor Sadiq Khan to intervene.

The Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime and the Met Police were contacted for comment.