An Irish traveller allegedly linked to a violent burglary gang that targeted wealthy homeowners has been on the run for eight months after escaping from prison, the Mail can reveal.
Career criminal James Dooley was serving time for a series of burglaries when he vanished from a low-security open prison.
He was previously associated with a violent traveller gang accused of raiding affluent properties across north London and the Home Counties. The gang allegedly smashed through doors and windows with sledgehammers and crowbars, sometimes while frightened residents were still inside.
Despite his criminal record, Dooley was transferred partway through his six-year sentence from a more secure prison to a less restrictive regime. He then allegedly took advantage of the relaxed conditions to escape.
His disappearance came as a spate of ‘strikingly similar’ break-ins was reported across north London and Hertfordshire. Since September, almost 50 homes have reportedly been targeted by a traveller gang.
The developments have prompted concern that burglary is ‘no longer being treated as a policing priority’ by the Metropolitan Police.
Andy Burnham’s Labour Government has also faced repeated warnings that unsuitable inmates were being transferred to open prisons as authorities attempted to reduce overcrowding.
David McKelvey, a former Met detective chief inspector who now heads private investigations firm TM Eye, said the latest north London burglaries appeared to mirror the methods used by Dooley’s alleged gang.
Irish traveller James Dooley is suspected of being linked to a ‘burglary squad’ that targeted affluent homes across north London and the Home Counties
Mr McKelvey believes the group consists of Irish Travellers working in at least three teams, each made up of three or four men.
The network is alleged to use stolen vehicles fitted with counterfeit number plates and may have targeted up to 15 homes a day, apart from Sundays, before returning to traveller sites.
Mr McKelvey said: ‘North London is facing another extraordinary series of more than 50 burglaries and home invasions, once again involving stolen vehicles with false plates and a strikingly similar modus operandi.
‘I want to be absolutely clear that I am not claiming Dooley is responsible. However, the similarities surely warrant investigation.
‘Imagine being one of the detectives who spent months bringing this gang to justice, only to see a convicted prolific burglar transferred to an open prison and then walk away.
‘If experienced offenders are involved again, they will understand police tactics and know they could face lengthy sentences if caught. At the same time, families across north London are living in fear inside their own homes. Something has gone seriously wrong.’
Dooley was sentenced to six years and three months at Reading Crown Court on August 10, 2025, after being convicted of three burglaries in North Finchley, Hendon and Hampstead committed between November 2 and November 12, 2024.
He also admitted two attempted burglaries in Pinner and Iver, Buckinghamshire, on December 19, 2024.
The timing of Dooley’s transfer to an open prison is unclear. By February this year, however, he was being held at Category D HMP Hollesley Bay in Suffolk, where he is believed to have had roughly two years left to serve.
Category D open prisons are low-security facilities in which inmates have greater freedom of movement and may leave during the day for work placements in the surrounding community.
Dooley and fellow Irish traveller burglar Andrew Cash were reported missing from HMP Hollesley Bay during the early hours of February 24 this year.
FIND OUT MORE: Wealthy 37-Year-Old Charged Over Antisemitic Abuse Melts Down in Court
Two members of a suspected traveller burglary gang smash down the front door of a home in Muswell Hill, north London
The men appear to use crowbars and brute force to smash through the front door
Cash, 33, was part of a separate burglary gang and was serving a six and a half year sentence at the time he absconded. He was eventually arrested in London on July 9 and handed an additional six months on his sentence.
Suffolk Police confirmed Dooley remains at large. He is described as white, 6ft 1in tall with brown hair with links to the Wood Green area of north London, the Waltham Cross area of Hertfordshire and the Slough area of Berkshire.
Last week, the Daily Mail exclusively revealed how violent ‘traveller burglary squads’ have been linked to 50 break-ins across London and the Home Counties from the start of September – with police accused of failing to tackle the crime spree.
Groups of balaclava-clad thugs have been smashing their way into homes in wealthy neighbourhoods before making off with hundreds of thousands of pounds’ worth of cash, jewellery, expensive watches and even entire safes.
Doorcam footage of one of the raids shows three masked men using crowbars to batter their way through the front door of a house in an affluent north London suburb, before stealing the keys to a £100,000 Mercedes parked on the drive.
The raids have been concentrated in high-end neighbourhoods in north London, including Hampstead and Highgate, as well as parts of Hertfordshire. TM Eye began investigating because its sister private security company patrols some of the areas.
Mr McKelvey suspects some members of the gang are among men who were convicted of burglary after his investigators passed information to police in 2022 and 2023.
He claims at least two of them were subsequently released under Labour’s early release scheme and may be among the current suspects.
Mr McKelvey said: ‘This is the same modus operandi, including the use of stolen vehicles with false registration plates and masked men bashing their way into homes with sledgehammers and crowbars before very quickly exiting with high value goods before the stolen vehicles are washed down with bleach and stored for the next raids.’
The former detective said he has passed all his intelligence onto Met officers investigating the burglary spree, as well as those searching for Dooley.
However, Suffolk Police said it had exhausted all possible lines of enquiry to find him and believes he may have left the country.
A spokesman said: ‘He remains unlawfully at large. All reasonable lines of enquiry have been conducted to locate Dooley. He is believed to have left the UK.’
Last year, jail chiefs blasted a Labour scheme which allows serious criminals to be transferred to open prison after serving just two weeks behind bars.
The Prison Governors’ Association said the move would ‘potentially place the public at greater risk’.
The Prison Service said: ‘Public protection is our priority, and prisoners are only moved to lower-security conditions following a thorough risk assessment, informed by specialists in offender behaviour and psychology.
‘It would be inappropriate to comment further while the police investigation is ongoing.
‘Transfers to open prisons are never automatic and only take place where strict criteria are met and risks can be safely managed.
‘Open conditions allow eligible prisoners to prepare for release, including through employment and rebuilding family ties.’