Caught On Camera: ‘Sticky Bandits’ burglars inspired by Home Alone leave 'Merry Xmas' calling card

Watch (click to play above) the shocking antics of a burglary gang - who brazenly filmed themselves raiding warehouses during the Christmas holiday period. A combination of CCTV and mobile phone footage shows the Sticky Bandits - named after the Home Alone baddies - as they stole metal and other goods using heavy-duty plant and machinery belonging to the business targeted.

They would steal vehicles from the firms, and use others on cloned plates, to take the material back to their base at an industrial unit and are believed to have sold on the metal to unscrupulous scrap dealers.

WATCH: Caught On Camera - Store heists and shop raids online.

Watch on Freeview channel 262 and Freely channel 565 - Sunday 01 Dec 2024 - 1:30pm or 8:30pm.

Many of the businesses were hit over the Christmas break when the gang thought the risk of being disturbed was lower. They recorded some of their raids on their own mobile phones, referring to themselves in one clip as the ‘Sticky Bandits’ - in reference to the burglars from the Home Alone films. On one occasion, they drew a lewd image on the floor of a firm and wrote ‘Merry Christmas. Happy New Year’. 

One gang member filmed a business near a cemetery as part of a recce. He was later recorded talking about how people nearby thought he was mourning at a graveside and not ‘scoping out’ a potential target. The shocking footage appears in a new episode of Caught On Camera - which is now available to watch on the Shots! TV video on demand website.

They were caught out after detectives used CCTV and phone records to identify the gang who were arrested in a series of dawn raids. The five men were jailed for more than 30 years in total.