Three off-road drivers who damaged a protected Welsh beauty spot with their 4×4 vehicles were identified after posting videos of the incident on TikTok.
John Robinson, Michael Williams and Joseph Hodgson were among a convoy that travelled from Liverpool into Wales, leaving deep tyre ruts across rare peatland and blanket bog habitats.
The group drove almost two miles into the Berwyn Site of Special Scientific Interest, a protected moorland area in north-east Wales, damaging extensive stretches of privately owned land.
Natural Resources Wales investigators were able to trace the drivers after they openly uploaded footage showing their vehicles causing what officials described as ‘irreversible damage’ to the sensitive landscape.
One video shows a 4×4 jolting over muddy tracks in heavy rain, while the other vehicles can be seen through the windscreen weaving across the rugged countryside.
In another clip, one of the vehicles is buried deep in mud as members of the group attempt to pull it out. Several other 4x4s are shown parked around the protected beauty spot.
Hodgson, 23, of Liverpool, has been prohibited from entering the entire Berwyn site for three years. The protected area covers more than 62,000 acres.
He was also ordered to pay more than £2,000 after Wrexham Magistrates’ Court convicted him of criminal damage.
Three 4×4 drivers damaged the Berwyn Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wales before their own TikTok footage helped investigators identify them
The videos showed the vehicles bouncing over muddy tracks during torrential rain
A separate clip showed members of the group trying to tow a vehicle out after it became deeply stuck in the mud
Seven vehicles travelled together from Liverpool to Denbighshire on June 1 last year before heading onto countryside tracks where motor vehicles are prohibited.
The convoy crossed privately owned land towards the Moel Fferna summit before continuing into the protected Berwyn site.
Their off-road vehicles carved tyre tracks into the fragile terrain and inflicted damage that Natural Resources Wales said could be irreversible.
The agency said Hodgson did not assist with its investigation, failed to attend an interview and claimed that he had sold his vehicle.
However, investigators later established that he appeared in footage posted online by the group.
Hodgson also missed an earlier court hearing in August. He was convicted in his absence of criminal damage under the principle of joint enterprise.
The court ordered him to pay £1,000 in compensation for the environmental damage, £1,000 in costs, a £50 criminal damage surcharge and an additional £30 in compensation.
He was additionally given a three-year community behaviour order because the offence was committed while he was already subject to a community order for similar countryside-related offences.
Robinson and Williams, also from Liverpool, were convicted at an August hearing. Both received fines and were banned from driving for two months.
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Kirsty Roberts, from Natural Resources Wales, said: ‘Sites of Special Scientific Interest are designated and protected because they support the UK’s most important rare and fragile wildlife.
‘Blanket bog is particularly sensitive. Once it is cut up by deep ruts, the water balance can be altered for years, degrading habitat and reducing carbon storage.
The off-road vehicles left tyre marks, causing ‘irreversible’ damage to the sensitive environment
The incident is the latest in a string of young people who have been caught ‘baiting’ police officers by posting videos of their crimes on social media platforms
‘Illegal off-roading also impacts farmers and landowners who manage these privately owned working landscapes, disrupting farming operations, increasing costs, and undermining long-term conservation efforts.’
The incident is the latest in a string of young people who have been caught ‘baiting’ police officers by posting videos of their crimes on social media platforms.
Arrogant drivers joyriding in stolen cars or inhaling laughing gas behind the wheel are becoming increasingly popular on social media platforms such as TikTok.
Most clips follow a similar theme where the camera zooms in on a speedometer climbing rapidly before the lens pans to the driver and their laughing passengers.
Andy Burnham previously addressed the issue, telling reporters that sharing footage glorifying dangerous driving was ‘truly reprehensible’.
He said: ‘We’ve communicated to those social media platforms that have been hosting content that celebrates this type of dangerous behaviour on our roads and urged them to take it down.’
The Government has urged social media platforms including TikTok to remove videos glorifying dangerous driving after two tragedies in the space of a few days left 12 people dead
A Downing Street spokesman said Ofcom has the Government’s ‘full backing to take tough action’ against platforms which fail in their legal duties.
Paul Williams, acting deputy national chairman for the Police Federation of England and Wales, told BBC Breakfast: ‘Every day we can identify now numerous examples of young people sensationalising dangerous driving.
‘Not just dangerous driving, but baiting police officers who are out there to protect the public. It’s a real problem. It’s causing officers concern.
‘They shouldn’t have to be going out and worrying about whether they’re going to return home from their shift or not. But on top of that, wondering if they’re going to be plastered all over social media.
‘It’s absolutely unacceptable and social media platforms need to take some action.’
Demands for action have intensified after two police officers died alongside five ‘TikTok joyriders’ in a catastrophic head-on collision on the A66 in Teesside last month.
PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, were in a marked response vehicle that was struck by a VW Passat carrying Michael Robert Cahill, 23; Jacob Matusiak, 23; Makai Saddington, 18; Theo Rae, 17; and Cole Robert Worthy, 17.
Another police car had been pursuing them before calling off the chase. Just ten seconds later, the VW struck Mr Blades and Mr Clough, who had not been involved in the pursuit.
In the months leading up to the crash, Saddington had posted a string of TikTok clips that appeared to show him taking part in police chases. He had also been awaiting trial for racially abusing and assaulting officers.