£170k Range Rover belonging to entrepreneur Maximillion Cooper among motors allegedly nicked by gang headed-up by Corby man Adel Chouhaib

A £170k Range Rover belonging to a Gumball rally entrepreneur was among high-value vehicles allegedly swiped by a North Northamptonshire gang.

A trial over the theft of £4m of luxury goods, cars and paintings has heard how the fancy motor was taken from an address in London’s Notting Hill on June 28, 2021.

It’s alleged that it was taken by a gang led by Adel Chouhaib, from Corby.

Yesterday (Thursday, September 7) the jury saw images of, Gumball 3000 boss Maximillion Cooper tweeting to his 21,000 followers:

"HELP! My Range Rover SVR got stolen yesterday in Notting Hill.

"It’s a unique black (that shines red). All help to find it appreciated."

On trial before His Honour Judge Rupert Mayo at Northampton Crown Court are; Adel Chouhaib, 44, of Bede Close, Corby; Barry Mitchell, 43, of Carmarthen Way, Rushden; Robert Mitchell, 38, of London Road, Raunds; Suray Hamdi, 47, of Chain Close, Peterborough; and William Castle, 33, of Horselease Close, Great Oakley. They are all charged with conspiring to burgle and conspiring to steal. Chouhaib is also accused of handling stolen goods.

Police said in court they eventually found the stolen Range Rover more than a year later, in September 2022, at the premises of GrabHire4U, a Wellingborough-based firm owned by Barry Mitchell.

Texts shown to the jury between Couhaib and others said to have been involved in the plot included videos of the inside of the luxury car. One showed a man revving the engine of the car and driving away at speed.

Chouhaib is also said to have sent an image of the Range Rover to a Spanish number.

Stolen tipper parked in Bede Close

The victim, Mr Cooper, is not the only celebrity involved in the trial. Earlier in the proceedings, the jury was told that paintings worth an estimated £1.6m were taken from the Nevil Holt home of Carphone Warehouse entrepreneur David Ross.

The court also heard that the gang had allegedly taken a Ford Transit tipper from Portsmouth on June 25, 2021. The jury saw a picture of it – said to have been found on Barry Mitchell’s phone after his arrest - parked at the home address of Chouhaib at Bede Close, Corby, on June 27 with false plates.

Prosecutors allege that the tipper was later used to two a stolen Ifor Williams trailer from compound at Goodwill Solutions, Deer Park Road, Northampton on July 11, 2021.

The jury was shown CCTV of a man said to be William Castle using a circular saw to cut off a wheel lock in the early hours of July 11 before the trailer was towed away by the stolen tipper truck, driven by Castle.

ANPR cameras then showed the trailer and the truck heading north on the A14. Multiple calls between Chouhaib, Castle and another Corby man, Jamie McNamee, took place throughout that day.

The tipper and the trailer were then allegedly used the following evening, July 12, to remove a Kubota digger from Burghley Park Golf Club, Stamford. The court was shown images from Chouhaib’s phone being send to Barry Mitchell and Hamdi. They also heard about a road traffic collision involving a tipper truck with the same registration as the one stolen from Portsmouth in Burghley Lane, Stamford, at 1am on July 13.

Castle and Hughes ‘pictured with stolen JCB’

Then, on the night between July 16 and 17, the stolen Ifor Williams trailer being towed by the tipper truck were used to take a JCB 8017 from Gretton Site investigations at Brampton Wood Lane, Stoke Albany.

Prosecutor Dee Toor showed the court WhatsApps between Chouhab, McNamee and the Mitchell brothers on that day. ANPR cameras later detected the truck at Pipewell.

A picture of Castle and a further man, Cameron Hughes – whose whereabouts are unknown – with the stolen JCB parked near Rothwell was sent from Chouhaib’s phone to Barry Mitchell.

Prosecutors also believe the same vehicles were used to take an Ifor Williams trailer from Castle Farm in Barnwell, although this does not form part of the indictment.

On August 9, a lorry cab that police later discovered at GrabHire4U during their searches, was seen entering the Ikea logistics site at Fletton Parkway in Peterborough.

The jury was shown pictures on the truck towing away a trailer, and of a BMW later seized from Chouhaib.

‘I have some drinks for sale’

The trailer contained hundreds of Coca-Cola drinks including Coke, Monster Energy, and Punch worth £20,000.

A lorry tracker passed along Fletton Parkway at 3.37am before stopping twenty minutes later for the number plates to be changed to a pair stolen from Truckwright in Corby, in the preceding days.

The lorry was then seen on ANPR along with the BMW allegedly driven by Chouhaib, going through Oundle, and making its way to GrabHire4U, the business owned by Barry Mitchell. It stopped there for an hour and was later found at the Country Service Station in Warmington, abandoned and empty. The court was told another trailer, used in an earlier burglary at Plus Wipes, was also found at the service station.

In the following days, messages sent from Hamdi’s phone to several contacts showed pictures of some of the stolen drinks.

Texts to pals read: “I have some drinks for sale. Call if U interested.”

The trial continues.