Thugs destroy family’s prized collection of vintage Minis with a cricket bat covered in nails

‘Mindless’ thugs destroy family’s prized collection of vintage Minis with a cricket bat covered in nails – as owners fear attack was a TikTok prank

  • Anja McCormick, 27,  is devastated after the attack at her Northampton home
  • The cars were worth thousands of pounds and some were one of only 500 made
  • Ms McCormick fears the horrific vandalism was done for social media likes 

‘Mindless’ thugs trashed a family’s treasured collection of vintage Minis with paving slabs and a cricket bat covered in nails.

The four classic cars had all been lovingly restored by Anja McCormick, 27, with her relatives and parked in a secure garage at their home in Northampton.

They included a Mini Sky, which Anja’s late grandfather gave her shortly before he died, a Mini Rose, a Mini Cooper with a Union Jack roof and a Mini Rio. 

The Sky and the Rose are believed to be one of the last remaining pairs of Minis of their kind in the UK after only 500 were ever made. 

But Anja, 27, was left devastated when vandals destroyed the cars in a late-night attack, which she fears was posted on social media for likes.

Anja McCormick, 27, lovingly restored the rare vintage cars with her relatives including this Mini Rose 

The family say the cars are wrecked 'beyond repair' and are offering a £1,000 reward to catch the culprits

The family say the cars are wrecked ‘beyond repair’ and are offering a £1,000 reward to catch the culprits

The yobs used paving slabs and a cricket bat bristling with nails to smash the windows and bodywork and scratch off the flag motif from the Mini Rose. 

The family say the cars are wrecked ‘beyond repair’ and are offering a £1,000 reward to catch the culprits. 

Business development manager Anja said: ‘Anyone who knows me since school will remember the little classic Mini Sky that my grandad got for me just before he passed away. 

‘As you can see from the pictures, it’s taken a huge beating, slabs thrown through the windows, lights smashed, roof hammered.

The cars were worth tens of thousands of pounds before being destroyed by vandals beyond repair

The cars were worth tens of thousands of pounds before being destroyed by vandals beyond repair

The thugs used a bizarre medieval style bat with nails hammered in to carry out the night time attack

The thugs used a bizarre medieval style bat with nails hammered in to carry out the night time attack

‘They have completely trashed all four cars. It makes me so sad that people can do something so nasty to something that holds such sentimental value to someone else. 

‘I have no idea why they’ve done it. As far as we are aware it’s mindless destruction. 

‘Whoever did it took their time and made sure everything was smashed on the cars so they are damaged beyond repair. 

‘I am so upset that people have it in them to do this. It’s like they have gone in and said ‘how much damage can we do to these cars?’

‘The only thing they haven’t done is burn them. The damage they have done is irreversible. 

‘Why have they done it? How would they feel if it happened to them? Where’s the empathy? They’ve not got any at all.’

Anja says the attack happened sometime between April 3 and 10 and is now scouring social media in a bid to catch the culprits. 

The Mini Sky was given to Anja by her late grandfather shortly before he died. It was one of only 500 ever made

The Mini Sky was given to Anja by her late grandfather shortly before he died. It was one of only 500 ever made

She added: ‘My hope is, which is what my gut is telling me, they would have put it on Snapchat or TikTok to say ‘look at what we’ve done’. 

‘My hope is if they’ve tried to show off that someone would have seen something.’ 

She went on to say that her father had struggled to tell to Anja the devastating news. She said: ‘My dad is really sad and it took him a while to tell me it had happened.

‘It was the last thing he and my grandfather worked on together before he passed so the cars have huge sentimental value.’ 

 

The rare cars were the pride of Anja's family. Two models stand beside the Mini Cooper (left), a camper van and the Mini Sky (right)

The rare cars were the pride of Anja’s family. Two models stand beside the Mini Cooper (left), a camper van and the Mini Sky (right)

A Northamptonshire Police spokeswoman said: ‘This happened in Honeysuckle Way, Northampton, sometime between midnight on April 3 to 1pm on April 10. 

‘The unknown offender(s) have broken into the garage and damaged four classic Minis with every window and panel smashed.’