I spent a month with brutal ‘Balaclava Boy’ gangs who break into family homes ‘tooled up’ – what makes YOU a target

“IT’S no face, no case, innit?” says the balaclava-clad teenager before showing off a serrated weapon he carries down the front of his trousers. The 16-year-old is part of a street gang terrorising a northern town, racing in stolen cars and motorbikes, setting fires and taunting cops before posting their antics on social media. And he is far from alone. Masked gangs are the scourge of every city in Britain – living outside the law, they have their own rules, speaki their own language, and even run their own economy. The gang boasted of stealing bikes, breaking into homes and carrying weapons Credit: Media News GNP Ltd They boast that local police know who they are but say being masked-up makes their identity hard to prove – and criminal charges hard to stick. Gangs like this are the scourge of Britain’s neighbourhoods. Up and down the country, feral teenagers are causing chaos. From Birmingham to Bristol, Newcastle to Newquay, social media is full of complaints about hooded kids causing terror and mayhem. From jeering and mocking passersby to beating up other teens, thieving’, robbing people and even ‘pimping’ mobility scooters, this is a young generation of criminals obsessed with grime music, gangsters and ‘flexing’ (showing off) on social media. In an online world where brutality and gang culture have become a twisted fixation, these youngsters know the more risk they take the bigger their viewing figures. They claim TikTok and Snapchat are their platforms of choice but also post on Instagram and Facebook. In an exclusive investigation, we delve into the Generation Z problem plaguing the UK, talking to young criminals, victims and experts. Our four-week probe infiltrating ‘Bally’ gangs in Britain lifts the lid what makes them tick, how they get away with it – and the devastating impact on their victims. It comes as police forces promise to double down on anti-social behaviour as statistics last month showed more than a million cases of neighbourhood disturbances are recorded each year. But the true figures are believed to be much higher. Nearly two-thirds of victims and witnesses did not report cases to police, councils, housing providers or any other agency in the past three years as they lose faith in action being taken, according to YouGov polling. Disturbingly, figures show the reoffending rate for kids is higher than for adults. Our shocking video interview with masked-up kids in a small northern town reveals just how far the the gangs are prepared to go as one unsheathed a six-inch serrated DIY tool. He told me: “It’s self defence. Say we rob somebody’s bike and they come up to us, this is for protection.” In a sign of how they view soft-touch Britain, another said: “If you get caught you get a slap on the wrist.” Even pensioners are not safe in their own homes as one gang attack an old man Credit: SWNS Two members of the gang we spoke to on what they claim is a stolen bike Credit: Duncan Young Balaclava wearing hoodlums brandish a machete during a fight in Dewsbury town centre Credit: Yappapp The gang don’t care who they target Credit: Media News GNP The lads, aged 16 and 17, told us how Nissans and Audis are their stolen car of choice, which they then sell for as little as £300. The gang, who call themselves ‘roadmen’, boasted of goading cops into police chases before ‘decamping’ – dumping the car and running off. One told us how he burgled a house while another claimed to be on a curfew after setting fire to a building. Another told how he uses boltcutters to rip ignitions out of motorbikes before giving us a mock demonstration on how to cut wire. As Britain faces increasing problems with feral youth, Nottingham could become the first city centre in Britain to ban the wearing of balaclavas to stop shoppers feeling intimidated. Latest Youth Justice statistics reveal the number of 10 to 17 year-olds committing violent or sexual offences have increased. It comes as little surprise that weapon possession is also on the rise. Shockingly, kids are more likely to reoffend than adults suggesting hard-core criminality among the marauding gangs. But victims would argue that official figures don’t reflect the reality on the streets. Community Facebook pages are loaded with complaints about out-of-control kids wearing ‘ballys’ to cover their faces. And it’s not confined to less salubrious areas. In the upmarket suburb of Didsbury in Manchester, families say a gang have been terrorising locals who live near a school. In Romford, Essex, locals claim some estates become ‘no-go’ areas after 7pm. In April, yobs in ski masks were filmed slashing at each other with machetes in broad daylight as shoppers in Dewsbury town centre watched on in horror. In leafy Chatham, Kent, thugs threw themselves onto the bonnets of taxis, putting drivers at risk last September and in Immingham, near Grimsby, masked thieves are infamous for stealing luxury cars and motorbikes. It’s a picture repeated across the UK as residents call for action against ‘plastic gangsters’ who dress in dark tracksuits and have adopted Canada Goose and Stone Island jackets as their uniforms along with Nike sliders or trainers. Gang members told me how they don’t care about victims ‘Bally’ wearing kids show off their off-road bikes on social media Credit: tiktok They are keenly aware that police are reluctant to chase them on nicked bikes if they take their helmets off. One senior police officer told The Sun: “No traffic officer is going to chase some teenager without a helmet because they’d be to blame if there was a fatality. “These kids are an absolute menace on and off the road. People find them intimidating and give them a wide berth, which gives them a sense of power. “Nobody in their right mind would confront them either because you don’t know if they’re carrying a weapon. They are in and out of the justice system constantly because judges don’t want to take kids into custody.” The masked teens quizzed by our reporter go by the name of NPG – the No Panic Gang. They claim to commit crimes out of boredom, for the “rush” and to make cash. Worryingly, they admit being inspired by gang culture on social media, TikTok in particular. One boasted: “I’ve got about 700 followers. You can just rag (speed about in) a car and annoy the cops and you get loads of people watching on TikTok. “It gets the adrenaline going.” The yobs don’t care about smashing up bikes once finished with them Credit: tiktok The gang pointed us to TikTok posts in which they show off their ‘work’ Credit: tiktok Another teen told us: “There’s nowt better to do and this is a way to make money innit? “If you get a good car you can sell it for £300 or £400 and motorbikes for about £200.. That’s good money for us. Nissan Qashqai is a good ‘un to sell easily.” They claimed to never steal on the estate where they live, adding: “We don’t rob from round here – it’s our own doorstep isn’t it? “We go to the posh places around. You’re safe from us living here.” The lads I spoke to live on one of Britain’s most deprived estates – but the culture is not confined to working class youngsters. A quick search of social media shows how gangs are divided into territories rather than by class. It’s hard to know how much of the antics they boast to me about are fueled by bravado but it was clear that two of the boys, including the one brandishing the jagged weapon, were more prone to violence than the others. They happily admit breaking into homes to steal car keys before driving off in householders’ vehicles. It’s an especially chilling thought given they are ‘tooled up’. One told how he was inspired by seeing other balaclava-wearing kids in the area. “Some people in the street see us and think, I wonder what they’re doing. I wanna do that. “When I was about 13 I saw older kids doing it and thought, yeah that might be fun,” he said. Frighteningly, he added: “Now I’ve done it, I can’t stop it.” Another said: “Around here you’re either working overseas (in oil jobs) or you do this.” His friend added: “It’s either work at the docks or work at the corner shop isn’t it?” There is understandably little sympathy for these kids – or their parents who are lambasted online as being ‘chavvy families’ who have lost control. But there is a commonality to these youngsters. While neurodiversity is no excuse for thuggery, all of the teens we spoke to said they had been diagnosed with hyperactivity, with three spending just a few hours at school each week. Yet they are not unintelligent and share the same hopes and dreams as other teens. Two said they wanted to be car mechanics and I was under no illusion they would make quick work of stripping down an engine. Another wants to be an engineer. Nearly all came from fractured backgrounds, with one claiming his mum was an alcoholic and another living with his grandmother. Despite this they say their parents and guardians continually beg them to stop their bad behaviour. “My mum keeps on telling me to stop but I’m, like, there’s nothing else to do. This is my life and this is part of my life and it will never leave me now,” says one. Yet another, when asked about what his parents thought, simply replied: “F*** ‘em.” It’s not a shock that the gang is also used for running drugs – though they are less forthcoming about this aspect of their criminal lives. Local cops know who the kids are – but masks make it hard to convict them Credit: Media News GNP Adam had his bike nicked by a gang who taunted him on social media Credit: David Dyson – Commissioned by The Sun They said adults on the estate where they live often ask them to deliver ‘gear’. The brightest of the group, who has a sharp sense of humour and is clearly clever, says: “Say, if someone dropped you an ounce of weed or something, you’d make, like, £140 quid if you sell in straight 10s (half an ounce) “You’d get a fraction of that.” It’s obvious the more naive members of the gang look up to the main two ringleaders and, while it might give them the adrenaline rush sought after by teen boys, it won’t be long before they too are criminalised. Then what hope? Fuelled by social media A PASSENGER hangs from the back of a moped and blasts a fire extinguisher towards a police car. Moments later he is filmed pinching a brush from the boot. It’s not the most impressive haul but that’s not the point. It’s all about the ‘flex’ – showing off on social media. Britain’s feral kids steal ‘bikes for likes’ and gangs taunt cops for sport. Other social media videos show hooded gangs trying to provoke police – speeding past in stolen cars and motorbikes in the hope of a high-speed chase. They also mock the owners of nicked vehicles, capturing the moment they use bolt cutters to rip out ignitions before showing off their spoils. The Sun spoke to balaclava-clad thugs who sell cars for as little as £300 and motorbikes for £200. “It’s all about flex, innit,” one told me. He went on to claim that the teenage thieves were doing Brits a FAVOUR. He said naively: “They can get insurance and a better car. We’re doing them a favour. “If we nick a Ford Fiesta that costs like £8,000, they’ll probably get like £16.000 back.” It’s a sign of just how far the yobs are removed from reality and how other people’s possessions mean so little. Asked if they cared about how hard people had to work for what they have, they simply laughed. Another told me: “There’s f*** all else to do. It’s the rush, the adrenaline.” They even boasted of stealing mobility scooters then ‘pimping’ them by tearing out batteries and replacing them with engines. “My mate coveted one,” said one of the teens. “It’s got a Yamaha engine that goes about 90mph.” Another spoke of ‘ragging’ (trashing or speeding) stolen and off-road bikes, adding: “We put ‘em on the back wheel for fun.” It might be a laugh to gangs, but decent families are utterly sick of hooded gangs who terrorise neighbourhoods, jeering and mocking passersby, robbing people, and beating up other teens. But thieving bikes with seemingly no repercussions is their main preoccupation. More than half the motorbikes stolen across the country are believed to have been swiped by under-18s. Figures obtained by the BBC reveal that, of 1, 812 bikes stolen in the 12 months to March this year, 965 were taken by kids aged 17 and under. And that’s only a snap shot of the problem as the figures only feature cases in which police noted down offender ages. More than 9,581 thefts were recorded in total. Gangs love to ridicule their victims. One TikTok post brazenly features a Facebook plea for the return of a Honda with the childish words, ‘we’ve got your bike, nanananana’ written underneath. We tracked down the bike’s owner, Adam Rowland, who told us: “It’s really hard seeing your pride and joy on TikTok, flaunted as a trophy.” Adam’s Honda CBF1000 was taken from outside a gym in Haughton Regis, Beds, last December after the thieves tore off the steering wheel, most likely using bolt cutters. Retail manager Adam, 31, who lives in the Luton area, said: “I paid £2500 for that bike and saved pretty hard for it. “I put out a plea on Facebook to see if anyone could track it down and my older sister was asking everyone she knew if they’d seen it. “Then she was sent an image of it on TikTok. I reported it to the police but there isn’t much they can do when gangs won’t show their faces. “These kids were once known for stealing mopeds but have now graduated onto higher spec bikes, but in truth they’ll steal anything they can get their hands on.” TikTok says it bans accounts that promote or glorify off-platform violence or threaten public safety. Figures show the platform removed 3.1million UK posts that breached community guidelines in the first three months of this year. Snapchat says it has an in-house legal enforcement team which works 24/7 to help cops investigating crime. Meta did not respond to requests for comment. Latest available Government youth justice statistics show that around 13,300 kids -including 1,900 girls – aged 10 to 17 received a caution or sentence in the year ending March 2025. The number of ‘proven’ offences, those officially recognised and recorded by police, were around 35,600. It appears a surprisingly small number given the widespread problem. Of those, around 1500 were sexual offences – a six per cent rise from the previous year. Almost a quarter of all offending among kids involved violence (23pc) while 14percent involved theft and handling stolen goods and more than one in ten related to possession of weapons. Successive governments have tried to get a grip of gang culture and the Home Office will next year sink £300,000 into tackling organised vehicle theft and export. A spokesman said: ““Vehicle theft is completely unacceptable and those responsible should expect to face the full force of the law. “We’ve put more than 3,100 neighbourhood officers into communities to tackle criminality. “Through our County Lines Programme, more drug lines have been closed, gang leaders arrested and dangerous weapons seized than ever before.” Yet hardliners will argue authorities have to take a tougher line and statistics reveal a decrease in the number of 10 to 17-year-olds who are given a caution or sentence. Figures show that almost 13,300 children were given a ticking off or custody – a three percent fall from the previous year (ending March 2024) and a fall of 65 percent from 10 years ago. The most frightening trend is the number of times youngsters actually commit crime. A staggering 31 percent will go on to reoffend – with an average of 4.4 offences per kid, higher than 10 years ago when it was 3.4 That compares with 29percent of adults. Unless they are able to break away from the dominance of gang culture and the lure of social media likes, the ‘bally’ clad kids of today will become the hardened criminals of the future.