Bogus car buyer threatened sales reps before stealing cars
A BOGUS buyer who threatened sales reps with a knife before driving off in £60,000 of cars from showrooms has been jailed.
Zahir Qayum, of Maryland Avenue, Hodge Hill, struck at dealerships across the region by pretending he wanted to test drive cars.
Once in the car he would threaten sales reps with weapons or force them to jump out the way as he sped off.
His crime spree came to an end when he left a cup of water on the roof of a Yaris at Toyota World, which fell to the ground as he drove off on
March 25. Police were able to match DNA on the discarded cup to the 41-year-old. They also identified him from CCTV at three other dealerships and a betting shop, where he used a syringe to threaten a worker.
Birmingham Crown Court was told how Qayum was being taken for a test drive in a £17,700 BMW from Listers Audi in Birmingham when he pointed a four-inch flick-knife at a sales rep on July 18, 2018.
The terrified rep pulled on to a car park and got out before Qayum moved into the driver’s seat and sped off.
He struck again on April 10, at Motorpoint Car Supermarket, in Aston, where he threatened a rep, claiming he had a knife whilst testing a £19,000 VW Golf GTD. He sped away in the car.
On April 27, Qayum threatened another rep during a test drive from Motofair, in Sheldon, before driving off in a Hyundai i30.
Three days later, armed with a syringe, he grabbed a woman working at William Hill in Ward End, Birmingham, and demanded cash but fled empty-handed.
Qayum, was convicted
of
three counts of robbery and jailed for nine years at Birmingham Crown Court.
He was also found guilty of attempted robbery, theft of a motor vehicle, possession of a blade and four charges of driving while disqualified, with sentences to run concurrently. He was disqualified from driving for seven-and-a-half years.
Detective Sergeant Tom Lyons, from force CID, said: “This prolific offender has used threats and a knife to intimidate his victims.
“Strong forensics and officers scouring hours of CCTV resulted in him being convicted.”