Masked car thieves choke dad on drive as they take Audi
CAR thieves choked a dad on his driveway as he fought to protect his wife and daughter.
Dramatic CCTV footage of the brawl shows 40-yearold Ali Gill take on four thugs trying to steal his top-of-the-range Audi sports car.
At one point, Ali says he was left struggling to breathe after being put in a headlock from behind.
Incredibly, he managed to free himself and rip one of the thieves’ balaclavas from their face before they sped off in his high-performance Audi RS6.
It happened on Three Acres Lane, in Cheadle Hulme at around 6.45pm last Monday.
Father-of-one Ali described the moment the masked men stormed his home.
“My wife and my threeyear-old had just finished eating,” he said. “She’d taken our daughter upstairs for a bath and I was working in the kitchen on my laptop. The next thing the door gets kicked in and these four guys come running towards me. I thought to myself, ‘I have to do something,’ so I got up and I charged towards them.”
CCTV from outside the property shows the four men entering - before being forced back outside into the cold just seconds later by Ali.
“It went on for ages, I was just wrestling with them on the ground.
“One of them got me in a headlock from behind, his arm was round my neck. I couldn’t breathe and thought I was going to pass out.
“They were shouting at me, ‘where are your keys, where are the **** ing keys, where are the watches.
“I told them if they eased up I’d show them, material things didn’t matter they could have them, but they just went harder and harder, kicking me and punching me.
“I’m a big guy, so I defended myself well, but my main aim was to protect my family and get these men out of my house.”
Ali says he believes his wife’s Volkswagen Golf R was the gang’s original target, but says they ‘lucked out’ when they discovered his Audi – which costs from £76,000 new – in the garage.
“They had the Audi key and were trying to open the Golf with it, they kept shouting and eventually managed to get into the garage.
“My wife was upstairs on the phone to police, begging them to hurry up.
“I just wanted to keep them on the driveway until police got there, but it is hard trying to fight four people. Then I was hit on the back of the head with something and went down.
“They got in the Audi and a Seat Leon they’d come in and sped off.”
Luckily, Ali’s Audi had a tracking system, and was found by police abandoned 20 minutes later.
“It’s with forensics now, as well as the balaclava, so hopefully they can get some DNA and catch these guys,” he added.
“It’s left us all shaken – we don’t want to go back home but we don’t have a choice. We feel numb with pain.
“No one should ever have to go through something like that in their life.”
In August, a woman was ambushed by machetewielding carjackers outside her home on Lawnhurst Close – less than 150 metres from where Ali lives. The men who took Ali’s car are described as being in their mid twenties, with south Manchester accents.
Two were said to be white, one Asian, and one mixed race. GMP have been approached for com- ment. A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said: “Police were called on Monday 29 October 2018 to a house on Three Acres Lane, Cheadle Hulme, reports of an aggravated burglary around 6.30pm.
“A black Audi RS6 – which has now been recovered – was taken from the address and a man in his 40s went to hospital with minor injuries.
“Enquiries are ongoing and anyone with information should contact police on 101 quoting reference number 1594 of 29/10/18 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.”