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UK’S THICKEST CAR THIEVES
Anthony Joshua’s fury after thieves steal his £150k custom-built Land Rover
The personalised luxury motor - embossed with AJ's signature - was pinched just days before his world title fight against Alexander Povetkin
BOXING heavyweight Anthony Joshua has vowed to hunt down thieves who nicked his £150,000 bespoke Range Rover.
The personalised luxury motor – embossed with AJ’s signature – was pinched just days before his world title fight against Alexander Povetkin.Joshua defends his WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight crowns against the Russian challenger, 39, at Wembley next Saturday.
A CCTV image shows a man suspected of stealing Joshua’s custom-built car.
AJ was training at the English Institute of Sport (EIS) in Sheffield, South Yorks., when it was nabbed from a relative’s home in London on Thursday.
Joshua parked the black motor – complete with a drawer for his world title belts – at the address whilst he headed north to make his final preparations for the bout.
His title belts are not believed to have been in the car at the time.
Last night, a spokesman for AJ said: “A shared car was stolen from a relatives central London home in the early hours of the morning.
“This is now a police matter and no further information will be made available.”
A source said: “AJ’s pretty annoyed about it because it’s so close to the fight. He doesn’t want any distractions at all.
“Thankfully no one was hurt when it was stolen. There were no aggravating features in it which is a massive blessing.
“But this is probably one of the last things he wanted before the fight.
“He’s concentrating on the fight at the moment and won’t let it distract him but once it’s over he will do whatever it takes to find it.”
Another source said: “Unluckily for the people who took it, there’s a tracker in it so it probably will come back at some point.
“It’s probably going to haunt them. I think he’s just worried what state it will be in when it’s found.”
Cops reckon thieves targeted the Range Rover using a keyless device that mimics a car’s key fob to break in.
The £100 device can pick up the signal of the genuine fob and fool the car into thinking it’s being opened legitimately.
Once inside, the thieves can override the keyless start with a simple computer.
The number of similar thefts is on the rise, particularly in London.
Thieves apparently get around £5,000 per car, which is dismantled and rebuilt into a new car from a number of the same type of stolen vehicle.
By doing so it is harder to identify.
Car thefts increased by 56 per cent from 2016 to 2017. Last year, 89,000 cars were nicked in the UK, up from 56,000 in 2016, Government figures show.
AJ was gifted his Range Rover SVAutobiography-Dynamic by Land Rover Jaguar last year ahead of his epic win against Wladimir Klitschko.
As well as a specially tuned 5.0-litre V8 engine which can sprint from 0-60mph in just 5.1 seconds, the whole interior is completely personalised.
Land Rover even given the vehicle a one-off exterior colour, specially named World Champion Graphite.
Diamond-quilted leather covers the interior with Joshua’s signature embossed in the headrest and aluminium letter box finishers on door cards engraved with his signature.
There’s also a huge sports equipment storage unit in the boot, perfect for all AJ’s trophies, gloves, pads and a punchbag
Anthony Joshua’s fury after thieves steal his £150k custom-built Land Rover
The personalised luxury motor - embossed with AJ's signature - was pinched just days before his world title fight against Alexander Povetkin
BOXING heavyweight Anthony Joshua has vowed to hunt down thieves who nicked his £150,000 bespoke Range Rover.
The personalised luxury motor – embossed with AJ’s signature – was pinched just days before his world title fight against Alexander Povetkin.Joshua defends his WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight crowns against the Russian challenger, 39, at Wembley next Saturday.
A CCTV image shows a man suspected of stealing Joshua’s custom-built car.
AJ was training at the English Institute of Sport (EIS) in Sheffield, South Yorks., when it was nabbed from a relative’s home in London on Thursday.
Joshua parked the black motor – complete with a drawer for his world title belts – at the address whilst he headed north to make his final preparations for the bout.
His title belts are not believed to have been in the car at the time.
Last night, a spokesman for AJ said: “A shared car was stolen from a relatives central London home in the early hours of the morning.
“This is now a police matter and no further information will be made available.”
A source said: “AJ’s pretty annoyed about it because it’s so close to the fight. He doesn’t want any distractions at all.
“Thankfully no one was hurt when it was stolen. There were no aggravating features in it which is a massive blessing.
“But this is probably one of the last things he wanted before the fight.
“He’s concentrating on the fight at the moment and won’t let it distract him but once it’s over he will do whatever it takes to find it.”
Another source said: “Unluckily for the people who took it, there’s a tracker in it so it probably will come back at some point.
“It’s probably going to haunt them. I think he’s just worried what state it will be in when it’s found.”
Cops reckon thieves targeted the Range Rover using a keyless device that mimics a car’s key fob to break in.
The £100 device can pick up the signal of the genuine fob and fool the car into thinking it’s being opened legitimately.
Once inside, the thieves can override the keyless start with a simple computer.
The number of similar thefts is on the rise, particularly in London.
Thieves apparently get around £5,000 per car, which is dismantled and rebuilt into a new car from a number of the same type of stolen vehicle.
By doing so it is harder to identify.
Car thefts increased by 56 per cent from 2016 to 2017. Last year, 89,000 cars were nicked in the UK, up from 56,000 in 2016, Government figures show.
AJ was gifted his Range Rover SVAutobiography-Dynamic by Land Rover Jaguar last year ahead of his epic win against Wladimir Klitschko.
As well as a specially tuned 5.0-litre V8 engine which can sprint from 0-60mph in just 5.1 seconds, the whole interior is completely personalised.
Land Rover even given the vehicle a one-off exterior colour, specially named World Champion Graphite.
Diamond-quilted leather covers the interior with Joshua’s signature embossed in the headrest and aluminium letter box finishers on door cards engraved with his signature.
There’s also a huge sports equipment storage unit in the boot, perfect for all AJ’s trophies, gloves, pads and a punchbag
