Stolen car recovered -but now this?! Madness

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Yep, life is to short to be chasing after elves and goblins!
 
nickg said:
Actually, the problem is that councils are run and staffed by people too useless to get a job in the commercial sector. They live in a different world...

Oi!! I work for a local authority, through choice, and I don't think I'm useless :rolleyes:
 
I live approx 10 miles from Ipswich.
I've had a speed boat nicked & a van nicked.
The speed boat got nicked in about 1990. I phoned plod HQ at Martlesham, got transfered to Ipswich then Stowmarket. Local plod would not even come out to take a statement or inspect tyre tracks left on my drive. They suggested that I sent them a photo of the boat so that they could keep their eyes peeled around Stowmarket!!!!
The van got nicked in 2000. Plod came from Bramford (a tiny village nearby). They offered to keep their eyes open around the streets of Bramford.
In both cases they knew that I was insured and obviously spent no time or effort locating the stolen property.
I was left under the impression that after issuing a crime number they had more important things to do (raising money from generally law abiding motorists instead of chasing criminals).
 
Keys back!

Oh, and by the way, I received the keys back from the police today. Now I just have to check which ones fit the car and see if the insurance company needs to pay for fixing a new ignition barrel.
 
Lodgement fees for court are not cheap so let legal aid do all of the work they need to do so that you can go to court with a repair bill to restore the car minus what you got for the sound system.

There is no such thing as profit from the proceeds of crime. So let someone else do all of the paperwork.

Had you tried to take civil action yourself it would cost way too much and this guy is saving you a bundle.

My advice - get the car repaired. Sell the sound system and when you go to court get a counterclaim for the balance - including the insurance premium increase.
 
Sympathise for you. Things like this are so irritating. Why is it always the decent people that tend to come out worse off. At times our legal system is a joke.

I think legally you should be as difficult as possible, but agreed with what somebody else said this guy may know where you live.
 
Yeah, I just don't think I can bear going through the small claims court - this guy clearly won't pay. I haven't heard anything else so maybe he's given up.

Also, just tried my original keys and none (apart from one for the boot) fit. My old old key doesn't even fit the driver's door. I can see now that he has clearly changed the ignition barrel as it doesn't really match the rest of that particular area.

How easy would it have been for him to change the driver's door lock? I couldn't see any damage or signs on the outside of the door.

I called the insurance company and the have asked me to take it to their approved repairers to get the ignition and locks checked and hopefully changed. I just want to have one key for all the doors and ignition but not sure how much work is involved there.
 
jonw2000 said:
How easy would it have been for him to change the driver's door lock? I couldn't see any damage or signs on the outside of the door.

takes about 2 minutes and a 3mm allen key

jonw2000 said:
I called the insurance company and the have asked me to take it to their approved repairers to get the ignition and locks checked and hopefully changed. I just want to have one key for all the doors and ignition but not sure how much work is involved there.

about 30 minutes labour - any more than an hour and they are overcharging you.

I believe a lock set costs about £250 from the dealers

HTH

Andy
 
Cheers - he obviously changed the lock then.

Hopefully the insurance company will be footing the bill for rectifying the locks. I just hope the garage carries out the work satisfactorily with no damage.
 
If it were me, I'd get on to the papers and arrange for them to attend as you hand over the stereo equipment to the yob who stole your car..His picture can be spread accross the paper and the police can be made to look fools at the same time...The paper may even pay you for the story...I think it would go down well with your average Sun readers....
 
rees_A said:
If it were me, I'd get on to the papers and arrange for them to attend as you hand over the stereo equipment to the yob who stole your car..His picture can be spread accross the paper and the police can be made to look fools at the same time...The paper may even pay you for the story...I think it would go down well with your average Sun readers....

What an excellent thought. That really appeals to my sense of humour.

Brilliant idea,
John
 
I like the idea about the forced quarterlight and reporting the equipment as stolen. Don't forget to report it to the Ipswich Police since you know they will do nothing about it
 
Possession is 9/10s of the law, so he has to prove its his.

or, if he really wants it back, charge him to have it professionally removed and the damage done by what sounds like an amateur install made good.
 
I haven't heard anything for a while so I'm hoping it was just some sick joke. I still have it and will sit on it for a while. It's not wired up anymore, just locked up in the garage. As it could be stolen property I will probably just take it to the police station but I want to hold on to it for a while first.
 
jonw2000 said:
I will probably just take it to the police station but I want to hold on to it for a while first.

If this 'gentleman' fails to carry on with his claim, then for peace of mind you could simply phone your local Police Station, report the 'found' property, give them all the required details, then after a set period of time the property will legally be yours!

I think it unfair to lay the blame on the Police from Ipswich, they were the one's that detained this person and your car. The Metropololitan Police being too busy is a might rich. Yes they have ongoing major incidents, but by crikey they have a huge Police Force to carry out ALL there commitments. They quite rightly requested and received mutual aid to reinforce some of the more specialised ongoing enquiries. When their resources get stretched to the same limits of forces outside of London then they might have cause to complain. Whoops, going into rant mode....

Good luck with all the repairs, get ALL the locks to work as they were intended and accept nothing less.

If this 'gentleman' does contact you then sadly I still stand by my first post. Tread carefully, as you have far more to loose than him, and more to the point..... You are a better person than he.

Good luck with the decision,
John

:)
 
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