Prolific York burglar & car thief jailed

A prolific burglar and car thief who paraded the cars he had stolen on TikTok is facing an extra four years in jail on top of a five-year sentence handed out in March 2023.   

Reece Callum Davidson, 25, formerly of Carr Lane, Acomb, but already serving a five-year jail term for past offences, was sentenced to the additional four years by York Crown Court on 10 January 2024 after pleading guilty to 13 burglaries, 12 car thefts, two counts of handling stolen goods, a burglary at Tadcaster Yorwaste site, and one attempted house burglary. 

In 2022, North Yorkshire Police’s York and Selby Expedite Team launched Operation Zinc, an investigation into a series of car-key burglaries that took place in York and the surrounding villages between May and October 2022.  

Davidson targeted properties with high specification cars outside, predominantly Volkswagen Golfs and other high-performance hatchbacks.

In total he stole seven VW Golf Rs, one Golf GTE, one Golf GTi, one VW T-Roc, a BMW M3, an Audi S3, and Seat Leon Cupra, along with goods from the properties that he burgled.

The defendant broke into his victims’ homes by damaging locks on the doors and windows, before searching for the car keys and stealing the cars parked on the drive or in the street.

Davidson then audaciously paraded the vehicles on social media where they were offered for sale.

While several cars have been recovered by North Yorkshire Police, some were sold to buyers from Bradford, Wakefield, Hull and as far south as London and number of them are yet to be found.

Investigating officer, Detective Constable Oliver Dalby, said: “The victims of Davidson’s offending have been profoundly affected by his crimes. Some of them awoke in the middle of the night, to find him in their home wearing a balaclava. I can only imagine the fear that such an experience would cause. I would like to thank them for their support and patience throughout the investigation. 

“Operation Zinc was a painstaking investigation that drew on the specialist skills of a number of departments across the force including response teams, crime scene investigation, intelligence, data analytics, forensics and the proactive specialist team known as Operation Expedite.

“The successful outcome is a result of 100s of hours of work by dedicated officers and the strength of the evidence gathered has left Mr Davidson with no option but to admit his guilt."