Kids as young as 7 becoming car thieves in UK

Melbourne, Sept 7 (ANI): The Oxford police are searching for a car thief who is believed to be as young as seven.

There have been fears that hardened criminals are increasingly employing children as young as 11 and 12 to commit crime.

The Oxford Mail reported that cops in Oxford, southern England, say "apprentice" criminals are being taught how to take the cars and told which models are easiest to steal.

They fear it is only a matter of time before someone is killed.

"We know that we have a very young thief at the moment as we have found stolen cars where the seat is as far forward as it can go and where a cushion is also used to make the driver closer to the wheel," News.com.au quoted Detective Inspector Paul Miller as saying.

"We can't say who this is in the current cases as we only have intelligence on it, but the suggestion is that there is a child as young as seven involved," he said.

"The scary thing is that they don't know how to drive, they are learning how to drive by stealing vehicles, which is really dangerous. It is my opinion that it will only be a matter of time before they seriously injure or kill themselves - or innocent members of the public," said Miller. (ANI)