A TEENAGER who claims to have stolen more than 400 bicycles in Swindon since the age of 11 has described the gang world behind the crimes.

The 15-year-old, who has now turned his back on ‘spending his life stealing’, said he decided to come forward to make the police aware of Swindon’s bike-theft gangs.

The boy, who says he was the victim of ‘violent intimidation tactics’, said his former gang was responsible for at least half of the 2,698 bikes stolen in Swindon since 2004/5.

“I was first asked by this guy that I had never met to take a bike when I was 11 and in return he would pay me £20,” said the boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons. “I did it originally to make some money.

“I was interested in bikes and I also ended up taking a few, that wouldn’t have fetched much on-line, for myself and friends.

“I went back to him when I needed money again.

“As I got better I started making more money, ranging between £30 and £40 for each bike.

“I learned how to better spot the good makes and how to steal them.

“I think everyone in the gang had their favourite spots, but we all knew certain areas that were always likely to have something on display.”

The east Swindon resident said some of his favourite spots included Old Town, new builds like the old hospital site and Oakhurst.

He added: “There were five guys in the gang, the leaders are in their mid-twenties and on the dole, but they have nice cars.

“You are going to have nice cars when you have kids stealing bikes, some of them are worth between £1,500 and £4,000 bikes.

“Instead of selling the entire bike and running the risk of getting caught they break them up for the parts and sell them on Ebay.

”It is much harder for the authorities to get you that way.

“Throughout my four years I was nicked by the police once.

“I use one of those huge sets of bolt cutters, but we can do it so quickly it was hard for anyone to catch us - even if we were using a huge set of bolt-cutters to do the job.”

He said some of the most sought after brands in the gang include GT, Cannondale, Specialized, Felt, Giant and Kona.

In response to the claims, Swindon’s police divisional commander, Paul Howlett, said: “Clearly the theft of bikes is a criminal offence.

“For every bike that’s stolen there will always be a disappointed loser.

“I would be very interested in talking to him to wipe his slate clean to avoid further offences.

“We are aware that ebay is used as an outlet for stolen goods and where we are able to we will intervene to recover stolen property and determine who is responsible.”