Crimestoppers has announced a reward of up to £10,000 for information that leads to an arrest and conviction following a violent home invasion in Solihull, near Birmingham, which resulted in the theft of a substantial amount of cryptocurrency and luxury watches.
Details of the Solihull attack
The appeal comes nine months after masked attackers assaulted a young couple at their Smith’s Wood home on 13 December 2025. The couple arrived at their house around 5:20pm, where three men exited a nearby vehicle and forced their way inside as the front door opened.
The husband sustained what police described as significant injuries, while his wife, pregnant with the couple’s third child, faced threats at knifepoint. West Midlands Police investigators believe the incident was both planned and targeted, with the couple coerced into sending cryptocurrency directly to a wallet controlled by the perpetrators.
A fourth accomplice was not present at the scene but supervised the robbery via a video call, providing instructions to those inside the house. The intruders also seized several high-value watches before fleeing the area in what is believed to be a black BMW X3.
Suspect descriptions and ongoing investigation
Detectives have stated that all four suspects are believed to be in their 20s. The attackers wore hoods and face coverings; the only released description is of a Black man with a small diagonal scar beneath his left eyebrow.
“Four people planned this and four people know exactly what happened that evening,” Alan Edwards, Crimestoppers’ West Midlands regional manager, stated. He urged anyone aware of a sudden influx of cash among acquaintances or anyone who may have seen the BMW near Smith’s Wood that Saturday to come forward.
Crimestoppers emphasized that the £10,000 reward applies only for information submitted directly to the charity that results in an arrest and conviction. The independent organization maintains the anonymity of all tipsters and does not trace phone calls or IP addresses. There is no requirement for informants to appear in court—a practice the charity notes has been followed for roughly four decades.
Tips can be submitted via telephone at 0800 555 111 or through Crimestoppers’ online platform, with a reward code requested at the initial contact.
Trend of crypto-related home invasions
The Solihull incident is among a rising number of so-called “wrench attacks,” where violent tactics are used to force victims to disclose cryptocurrency access information. These attacks are increasingly migrating from public spaces to private homes.
France has emerged as a central location in this trend. By the end of June, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez confirmed that authorities had tracked 77 cryptocurrency-related kidnapping, detention, and extortion cases or attempts, significantly higher than the 45 recorded in all of 2025. In the first half of the year, there were 20 recorded home invasion cases compared to just one in the same period the previous year. Of 52 confirmed wrench attacks globally from January to June, 33 occurred in France.
In August, a jury at Inner London Crown Court found five men guilty of confining and torturing two French cryptocurrency holders for 52 hours, with the gang demanding a $150,000 ransom during the ordeal.
Shortly before the Solihull appeal, prosecutors in Béthune, France, opened an organized-extortion probe after four masked individuals tied up a family near Lens and forced the father to transfer €40,000 in cryptocurrency.
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