What's the chances of the thieving b**stards getting caught?

Help & Advice
1

I have been very fortunate over the years not to have been a victim of much crime so what happened the other day was a bit of a shock.

I don’t think I should go into too much detail at the moment but somebody tried to steal something large and valuable of mine but I caught them red handed and they dropped the tools of their trade.

The police are now in possession of the ‘tool’ and the registration number of the car they were driving.

Because they were not able to steal what they came after they settled on causing criminal damage to my property, which is very upsetting too.

So, with all this info, will the police be able to apprehend the little toe rags or am I hoping for too much?

I realize that nobody was hurt and so this won’t be top of their In Tray and I’m sure that there is plenty more to sort out first but I would love to know from anyone (either those in the ‘force’ or from people who have had a similar experience) what the likelyhood of a result might be.

Thanks in advance.

2

Edith, having had a read of what you’ve written I can’t see why those responsible can’t be caught but there are a few buts …

If the motor they were driving is not registered or stolen it will mean not being able to trace them that way.

What ever the tool is, if this can be forensicated and prints / DNA taken then that will improve the chances greatly but again … only if the toerags are on the system.

Has this been reported as an attempted theft and / or a criminal damage ?

Hopefully someone gave you the name of the Officer dealing with it and their contact details, if not then you need to contact the station where it was reported to so you can speak to them - if it’s in the Met and you’re having problems then give me a shout and I’ll help out.

You need to ask them some pertinent questions.

First of all, is it being investigated ? - due to some real idiots making some amazingly stupid policies, some crimes will simply not get investigated … It’s happened to me before with something I reported.

What is it being investigated as ? (I would say that a High value attempted theft will get more of a response but the playing of figures might mean that it is classified as a low value criminal damage).

If it is being investigated has the ‘tool’ been examined by a Scenes of Crime Officer for forensic markls and DNA ? If not why not … (This costs money and the powers that be will sometimes decide that budgets are more important than solving crimes or reassuring victims).

How often will you get updated and have you given a statement yet … (I mean a full written statement that was written down word for word as to the events that happened - this of course will include a description of the little sh*ts). If you haven’t ask why no one has taken this as it should be taken as soon as after the event as the events will be fresh in your memory.

Once you’ve got all these answered don’t be afraid to be a pain (without being rude of course ), if you haven’t been given the answers you want to hear ask them to explain themselves, if that isn’t good enough ask to speak to their supervisor.

Sometimes some things need a kick in the bum before it can be resolved but hopefully it won’t come to that.

Again, if you need to ask me anymore questions or need a few pointers, just give me a shout on here.

3

hi, just pay dvla £2.50 and they will give you the registered keepers detail and then you can exact you own revenge in your own way and in your own time.

this is not to the authors view in any way shape or form.

4

Thanks Trojan, that was all very useful.

Unfortunately this is being delt with by a police force just outside the juristiction of the Met, so your kind offer of help wont be needed.

Seeing as what they tried to steal wasn’t a bike, I feel that it’s pretty unlikely that they will be on this forum, so maybe I can give a bit more info.

They obviously came prepared to steal my trailer (not a cheap open style, rather a big box trailer) which was chained to an anchor.

I caught them at it while one of them bolt cropped the chain. He ran off and disposed of the bolt croppers very nearby, which I later collected. The bolt croppers are brand new, obviously bought just to do this job and I made sure not to add any further fingerprints/DNA to them myself. A police officer collected these yesterday and said that they would be going to the forensics lab to be analysed, but this could take a few weeks. They also took away a piece of broken chain to link the bolt croppers to the job.

While Mr Bolt Cropper ran in one direction, his mates drove off in the other and I made a note of the registration number and type of car. Mr BC, now without his ‘tool’, walked back to join his mates while I was dialing 999. A lot of this information is from a neighbour who saw all this happen too.

After reporting it all to the Crime Reporting Bureau, I went to make sure I could still secure the trailer. Actually, I think my temporary fix is better than my original efforts, but more ‘security’ is in the post to me as we speak.

I also parked my car in such a way as to block the trailer in. Later that evening I got a phone call from the same neighbour. They had seen some ‘dodgy looking men’ searching the area where the bolt croppers were left and also giving my trailer and car a good looking over. They turned up this time in a different car and my neighbour has reported all this to the police as well. Anyway, next morning, I go out to find a large deep scratch on the rear of my car.

So, to answer your questions directly…

Yes, I believe that it is being investigated as attempted robbery.

I spent 30 mins on the phone giving a full statement of events to the Crime Reporting Bureau

And thanks for all the other tips. Obviously, if they turned up in a car with dodgy plates/stolen etc and this was their first job ever, then they may have got away with it but I have a strong feeling that they can be traced.

Cheers

5

Thieving barstewards don’t subscribe to the “genteman’s way”, so I don’t believe we owe them that courtesy.

6

Edith,

I should imagine if it was one of the county forces then they’d be more than likely to spend some time on this than the Met would (but I maybe wrong).

If you don’t hear anything for a while then make sure you do as I mentioned above and speak to the Officer dealing with it.

Good luck with it all.