Britain a bike thiefs paradise.

bails87

Pesky Jones wrote:

He'll just deny knowing they were stolen, police can take it either way - if they wanted to prosecute they'd have to prove he knew.

Yep, "i bought from a bloke in the pub, don't know who he is" is a perfectly good defence. The police have to prove he knew it was stolen.

veronese68

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

They said they couldn’t prosecute the seller as they couldn’t prove he’d stolen it.

But, isn't he then guilty of "handling stolen goods"?

You'd think. He just claimed he'd bought them at Wimbledon market. All of the assumed names didn't count for anything.

YeehaaMcgee

I didn't think ignorance can be used as an excuse in any circumstance. If it's stolen, it's stolen.
If you buy a stolen car, unwittingly, that car is impounded, whether you knew about it or not.

DCR00

GT-Arrowhead wrote:

I once had a bike nicked within literally 10 seconds. I had it leaning against the fence in my driveway, and i opened the door and put the bag in my front room. I came back to grab my bike and i see someone riding it at the end of the road.

You need to move house mate

pesky_jones

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

I didn't think ignorance can be used as an excuse in any circumstance. If it's stolen, it's stolen.
If you buy a stolen car, unwittingly, that car is impounded, whether you knew about it or not.

Yes the car will be taken, like a bike, but are you then prosecuted for handling that car? The choice is once again in the hands of the police.

j_l

I have heard stories via the Bristol Trail riders FB page of people who have had high end bikes stolen always the evening or day after they have been to local trail centres, the thought is that they are followed back home by the thieving scum and then the bike is nabbed at the next opportunity.

what makes it worse, is to insure your bike properly add's so much cost to your home insurance. :evil:

YeehaaMcgee

Pesky Jones wrote:

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

I didn't think ignorance can be used as an excuse in any circumstance. If it's stolen, it's stolen.
If you buy a stolen car, unwittingly, that car is impounded, whether you knew about it or not.

Yes the car will be taken, like a bike, but are you then prosecuted for handling that car? The choice is once again in the hands of the police.

I thought the guy who sold you the stolen car would get done.

bails87

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Pesky Jones wrote:

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

I didn't think ignorance can be used as an excuse in any circumstance. If it's stolen, it's stolen.
If you buy a stolen car, unwittingly, that car is impounded, whether you knew about it or not.

Yes the car will be taken, like a bike, but are you then prosecuted for handling that car? The choice is once again in the hands of the police.

I thought the guy who sold you the stolen car would get done.

Maybe, maybe not, like with a bike (or TV, computer or anything else). It's possibly a bit different with cars because of the registration, V5, HPI checks etc. It's much easier to check if a car is stolen.

But if someone sold you a stolen car on fake plates with a fake V5, then you (innocently) sold it on again and the new buyer found out it was nicked, would you expect to be prosecuted for handling stolen goods? I wouldn't, because I'd know I was an innocent victim of a fraudster, but the guy who bought it from you might, because he's now got no money and no car after the police recovered it.

cooldad

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Out here in the styx, we don't actually "have" police, as such. There's one main local police office, which opens, sometimes, on a 9-to-5 basis. That covers several dozen small villages and little towns. Most of the smaller local ones are being shut down.
So although the population is much lower, the amount of police officers is also far, far lower.

We also don't have tactical response units, when needed, it's often the Manchester units that come to help out. A couple of weeks ago, for example, armed (Manchester) police raided a restaurant to arrest a murderer. We (in the rural areas) just don't have the crew to deal with that kind of thing. In fact we have very few policemen and women at all.

But it kind of works, because crime rates are generally very low.

I've just had a eureka moment, if less police=less crime then no police=no crime. Which also probably means that all criminals are police.
Fire the lot of them, no more crime problem.

YeehaaMcgee

I like your thinking, CD, but unfortunately it's not correct.
less people = less criminals = less crime = less police.
So, by combining that with your thinking, you get a somewhat Pol Pot-esque policy of no people = no crime.

welshkev

Pesky Jones wrote:

welshkev wrote:

Pesky Jones wrote:

welshkev wrote:

Ouija wrote:

Depends where you live. In the built up urban areas there are more crimes than the police can deal with so they only take an interest in the more 'serious' ones. Out in the rural areas even cats stuck up trees become a major police procedure and stolen bikes are worthy of tactical response units complete with snipers....

I live on the side of a hill in the middle of nowhere and loads of my mates have had bikes nicked. nothing but a cursory response and some have had fingerprints dusted for. none have got their bikes back.

but good to see that stereotypes don't exist anymore :roll:

It's not really a stereotype, and if it is, then it's an acceptable one.

of course it's a stereotype and no it's not a f**king acceptable one you knob

Don't get touchy. There's no way you can argue the Police in your little town in Wales deal with the same crimes as they do in North London on a daily basis. Knob.

and your point is? not the one that was made in the OP I quoted :roll:

it was how the crime was dealt with, not what crime was dealt with.....

The Rookie

Clank wrote:

coulddobetter wrote:

My local police finger printed garage , put details in local paper and made 2 home visits . Didn't get the bike back but couldn't blame the police .

This mirrors the service I had from my local plod. Plus, within 2hrs of putting the bike details on the 'Stolen' section here, I had a phone call from them asking if I'd put the details up because 'a few keywords had been brought to their attention'.

Err thus proving they were doing something surely?

Saying they are doing nothing just because they get no results is rather a leap of faith!

welshkev

J L wrote:

I have heard stories via the Bristol Trail riders FB page of people who have had high end bikes stolen always the evening or day after they have been to local trail centres, the thought is that they are followed back home by the thieving scum and then the bike is nabbed at the next opportunity.

what makes it worse, is to insure your bike properly add's so much cost to your home insurance. :evil:

yeah that's been happening a lot as well as thieves using strava and endomondo to track rides that start off from peoples houses - I reckon this is what happened to my brother in law as the evening of the first time he used endomondo he had his bike nicked. he lives in a mid terrace house with a lane that runs behind that has 10ft high metal gates at either end. the guy next door to him has 3 or 4 road bikes worth a shed load more than his boardman but they weren't targeted.

pesky_jones

Is it unreasonable to believe that a lot more crime is committed in built-up cities then rural villages? No, of course not. It's perfectly acceptable to have that view - and if that's now a stereotype, then so be it.

welshkev

Pesky Jones wrote:

Is it unreasonable to believe that a lot more crime is committed in built-up cities then rural villages? No, of course not. It's perfectly acceptable to have that view - and if that's now a stereotype, then so be it.

again, you've missed the point.....

bails87

The Rookie wrote:

Clank wrote:

coulddobetter wrote:

My local police finger printed garage , put details in local paper and made 2 home visits . Didn't get the bike back but couldn't blame the police .

This mirrors the service I had from my local plod. Plus, within 2hrs of putting the bike details on the 'Stolen' section here, I had a phone call from them asking if I'd put the details up because 'a few keywords had been brought to their attention'.

Err thus proving they were doing something surely?

Saying they are doing nothing just because they get no results is rather a leap of faith!

Who said they were doing nothing?! Sounds like two posters saying "the police seemed to take it seriously and put some real effort into it". :?

cooldad

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

I like your thinking, CD, but unfortunately it's not correct.
less people = less criminals = less crime = less police.
So, by combining that with your thinking, you get a somewhat Pol Pot-esque policy of no people = no crime.

I might ask the mods to change my user name to Pol Pot.

pesky_jones

Oh I see, your're right - I did miss your point. Were you suggesting that the police put just as little effort into catching the theives in rural areas as they do in the inner city?

YeehaaMcgee

Pesky Jones wrote:

Is it unreasonable to believe that a lot more crime is committed in built-up cities then rural villages? No, of course not. It's perfectly acceptable to have that view - and if that's now a stereotype, then so be it.

er, get off your high horse for a moment, and re-read what he claimed was a stereotype...

To help you out, here's the relevant bits for you.

welshkev wrote:

Ouija wrote:

Out in the rural areas even cats stuck up trees become a major police procedure and stolen bikes are worthy of tactical response units complete with snipers

good to see that stereotypes don't exist anymore :roll:

pesky_jones

Er.

Pesky Jones wrote:

Oh I see, your're right - I did miss your point. Were you suggesting that the police put just as little effort into catching the theives in rural areas as they do in the inner city?

pesky_jones

Besides, YOU can not talk about high horses.

mrmonkfinger

welshkev wrote:

very true, the police caught a guy in my old car trying to hotwire it. they released him without charge cos there wasn't enough evidence ffs!!!

Lordy me, if being caught red-handed isn't enough evidence, what exactly does consistitute sufficient evidence?

You sure this police officer wasn't his mate dressed up as a police officer, just sort of lurking out of sight round the corner, in case the owner came back while he was twoccing it?

foy

Now now boys and girls stop throwing your toys out of the pram and calm down. What i really want to know is why the police could not tell me whether or not a frame number for a bike was legit. I did not want anyones name or address just a yes or no to my question. This country has gone mental with the data protection act and namby pamby fucking political correctness and it makes my fucking blood boil. Bet it would not happen in america as they dont fuck about there. I did not get the bike as someone else bought it and it turns out that the bike was totally legit and i am pretty pissed off about missing out on buying it.

YeehaaMcgee

Pesky Jones wrote:

Besides, YOU can not talk about high horses.

My horse is high. He doesn't do anything except eat grass all day.

Don't get butthurt because you got worked up about nothing, be the bigger man, and bow out of it.

capoz77

RockmonkeySC wrote:

There is a petition circulating online at the moment to get the police to create an online database of stolen bike frame numbers.
A mates carbon Santa Cruz V10 was stolen. He found it advertised on facebook for £300! He arranged to collect it that evening and took a few mates along for the ride.

what happened?

cooldad

capoz77 wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

There is a petition circulating online at the moment to get the police to create an online database of stolen bike frame numbers.
A mates carbon Santa Cruz V10 was stolen. He found it advertised on facebook for £300! He arranged to collect it that evening and took a few mates along for the ride.

what happened?

They all danced around in the moonlight then went for ice cream.

welshkev

Pesky Jones wrote:

Er.

Pesky Jones wrote:

Oh I see, your're right - I did miss your point. Were you suggesting that the police put just as little effort into catching the theives in rural areas as they do in the inner city?

You said you lived in north London, hardly inner city?

But no, what I was saying (and I know the OP was said in jest) is that the cat stuck in the tree etc etc image still exists.

But you know best.

welshkev

mrmonkfinger wrote:

welshkev wrote:

very true, the police caught a guy in my old car trying to hotwire it. they released him without charge cos there wasn't enough evidence ffs!!!

Lordy me, if being caught red-handed isn't enough evidence, what exactly does consistitute sufficient evidence?

You sure this police officer wasn't his mate dressed up as a police officer, just sort of lurking out of sight round the corner, in case the owner came back while he was twoccing it?

I know!! I was at home asleep, pissed as hell the cop took me to my car that was in the middle of the car park outside the pub and asked me if I could drive home!!!

I had a letter through about 2 weeks later saying there wasn't enough evidence to proceed :twisted:

YeehaaMcgee

You know, I was just talking about this, and I realised, that in this sleepy, mainly rural county, in (I believe) the last 5 years we've had...

Triads were busted running a massive drugs operation out of a builders yard.
UK's largest ever cannabis plantation was found hidden in disused railway tunnel catacombs.
A local bloke allegedly sent an explosive package to MI5 (or MI6, I forget which) headquarters.
Huge heroin haul form a town house.
Armed robbery at a post office, and a bookmakers.
Several murders and missing persons.
Several abductions.
And, the weirdest one of all, an elderly woman was found strangled, burnt, and dumped upside down in a wheelie-bin - but the death had "nothing suspicious" about it.

Hmm, considering the low population, this is actually a pretty frikking dangerous place to live, I guess. It's like GTA out there!

veronese68

foy wrote:

Now now boys and girls stop throwing your toys out of the pram and calm down. What i really want to know is why the police could not tell me whether or not a frame number for a bike was legit. I did not want anyones name or address just a yes or no to my question. This country has gone mental with the data protection act and namby pamby ******* political correctness and it makes my ******* blood boil. Bet it would not happen in america as they dont fark about there. I did not get the bike as someone else bought it and it turns out that the bike was totally legit and i am pretty pissed off about missing out on buying it.

They can't tell you if the frame number is legit or not because they don't have the faintest idea if it is legit or not and don't want to give out the wrong information, so they use an easy excuse. If there was a centralised database of stolen frame numbers then they might be able to answer such a question.