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        General >> Off Topic Subjects >> Re: Advice please (non car related) 
        
(Message started by: Scorpio_Mike on May 6^th, 2014, 9:11pm)

Title: Re: Advice please (non car related)
Post by Scorpio_Mike on May 6^th, 2014, 9:11pm

Take it through the proper channels and contact 'Da boys in blue'.

Title: Re: Advice please (non car related)
Post by Daniel on May 7^th, 2014, 7:47am

We did think of the police, but because nobody had seen him and we can't.proove it we felt we could be wasting their time :-/

Title: Re: Advice please (non car related)
Post by Andycan on May 7^th, 2014, 8:00am

Well his fingerprints would be on the business cards and the company would have known he was there.

Title: Re: Advice please (non car related)
Post by gozz on May 7^th, 2014, 10:44am

Your Dad needs to go in person in the first instance to see the guvnor' of the branch from whence the man was sent,bearing in mind that he may be a sub contractor,talk to him explaining that the bloke was the only non family member in the property therefore he is top suspect,give the firm a chance to put the matter right,if this is not forthcoming,find out the fitters details and report the matter to Elderly William after telling the firm of your intention.
You see if nobody ever bothers to go after these petty thieves,companies and Police cannot form a pattern of their previous activities.
If you meet outrage at the very thought of accusation,don't be put off,indeed that could be a cover,of course your Dad must remain calm and reasonable at all times irrespective of the attitude of others,but be firm and resolute until a resolution is obtained.
Good luck
GOZZ.

Title: Re: Advice please (non car related)
Post by Daniel on May 7^th, 2014, 11:24am

Cheers gozz, brilliant advice.
I did say to them, the company at least needs to know who is working for them. Who knows how many others he has done. We will be getting in touch with a few people. I will let you know how we get on.
Dan :)

Title: Re: Advice please (non car related)
Post by TiberiuS on May 8^th, 2014, 1:08am

Dan, I'm not really 100% sure what to say mate.

Part of me agrees with Mike, but on the other hand in my experience the fuzz don't tend to be that interested in theft if you're an individual and I've been a victim of theft several times - once similar to what's happened to your Dad except that it was quite an expensive watch of mine that was taken - and I gave up reporting that kind of thing after the experience I had with them with stolen bikes as a kid and then when my Aunt's car got stolen about 8 years ago, so really I agree with Gozz here, that most people don't report these kinds of crimes because the police just aren't interested and that you really need to go to someone who might know something/be able to do something about it.

It's not a trivial amount of money mate and the company he's employed by needs to know, because if he's done it once he's most likely done it before and will do it again.

The only bit that puzzles me is why did he take the jacket too rather than just the money? But then I guess if he'd been caught in the act he could've said 'sorry my mistake' that he'd put the wrong jacket on in a rush, that makes me think it was premeditated and that he's done it many times before :-/

Also, a bit of a long shot, but is there a chance any neighbours or other workers might've seen him leave and notice what he was wearing or if he was holding the jacket? Any chance someone might've had a CCTV in that area? Like I say, these are pretty long shots, but you never know - if you could get hold of some evidence like that I'm guessing you'd get the jacket and the money back pretty quickly, those type of people are always the same >:(.

Hope you get it sorted.

Title: Re: Advice please (non car related)
Post by Daniel on May 8^th, 2014, 8:00am

Cheers mate.
Well he was wearing a suit :o so i dont think he would of wore the jacket. I think he took it so we thought we had just lost the jacket with the money inside :-/
I will check to see if any cctv about.
Always worth a try.
Cheers
Dan :)

Title: Re: Advice please (non car related)
Post by gozz on May 8^th, 2014, 9:02am

Bruce,talking of stolen bikes,I had an interesting case a few years ago,one of my kids came in for tea and left her bike at the side of the house,after tea of course it had gone.The matter was duly reported to the Police.About a fortnight later I saw a lad riding the bike towards school at about 8.30am,it was impossible to stop him because I was in a car and he escaped over some grassland.I spoke to the Police and a CID bloke told me to go to the school at 9.15 leaving my car out of sight,we went to the bike sheds,identified the machine he cropped the chain off and took it to the nick in his Escort estate.
The next day he called me in,and explained that the matter had reached deadlock because the lad's dad had bought it locally from a known person who had bought it from a man who delivered it in a van,he would have been the thief but remained unknown.The CID bloke explained that as the bike had been bought fair and square,it now belonged to the lad,had it been a vehicle I could have reclaimed it,this didn't make sense to me,however I went to the lad's address,and being in the Fire Brigade at the time was wearing uniform under a civvy jacket,the dad reared up saying "not another f---- copper,I've had enough of you lot",I explained the situation and said that the bike had been signed off to them and I was not another copper,he promptly slammed the door in my face,there's gratitude for you ::)

Title: Re: Advice please (non car related)
Post by TiberiuS on May 9^th, 2014, 12:19am

Gozz,

At risk of dragging Dan's thread off topic...

There was one bike I had nicked that I actually got back. I was about 10 at the time and cut a long story short it was taken from my Gran's place. This was a bike that Mum picked up on the quick for me, after my previous (almost new) bike had got half inched from outside the local fish shop by a guy in a Range Rover (yeah, I know ::)). This thing was a tatty old £25 12spd Raleigh with a huge chunk out of the saddle and faded matt blue paint, bought from a guy in the local paper who had to cut it out of the weeds in his back garden when we turned up to collect it. Not exactly high end Tour De France stuff, but I guess Mum thought it'd be nicked pretty soon. And it was.

A few days after it was taken, we were sitting in traffic on the Barking Road (we lived in London at the time), lo and behold in a second hand shop on the left of the road I saw my bike sitting proudly on display - same faded blue paint, same chipped saddle. She frogmarched me to the police station where I described in excruciating detail to the two coppers there every little scratch and mark on it and wrote it all down for them, and next thing we had a bunch of police in two vans tailing us in our white Ford Capri back to the shop, musta looked like a scene out of the Professionals....

The guy's face was priceless, 'he's only a kid, he's mistaken' he said, but I restarted the whole 'This scratch and that mark was when I fell off in the park 2 weeks ago' thing and the coppers were convinced I was telling the truth and they handed my bike back to me there and then while five uniformed coppers disappeared inside the guy's shop (must've been more to it than one nicked bike). 'As always, I'm the loser' said the guy as he scowled at me, that shop closed a few days later.

That old bike ended up donating its wheels to my go-kart after I tried (and failed) to fit a Honda moped engine to it, I remember at some point I rattle can'd it Austin Rover Red as well.

Ahhh, memories ;D

Bruce.

Title: Re: Advice please (non car related)
Post by Jonnycab on May 9^th, 2014, 1:40am

Jacket gone, money gone, but keys & cards left on the fire place....Hmmm....sounds like the plot from an episode of 'Jonathan Creek', or shall we call him 'JC' for short ;).

Why would the thief take the jacket & money, but leave the keys & cards on the fireplace for you to easily find ?...This may indicate that the thief has a conscience. He may have needed the money but didn't want to inconvenience you too much, so left the keys & cards....or, could be that he is just a petty thief with a bit of savvy, who only ever steals money (untraceable) & not anything like cards & keys.

But why did he take the jacket though ?, was it a designer label ?. You say it was a work jacket, so I'm assuming not.

Why didn't he just put the money in his pocket (or somewhere else about his person) ?

By taking the jacket & leaving the keys & cards on the fireplace, then surely he is incriminating himself (which would be rather stupid), in which case you should approach the company & ask them to ask him. He may well admit it, especially if threatened with police action ;)

Are you sure the jacket was hanging on the door ?...Did someone, maybe take the cards & keys out, place them down on the fireplace, & put the jacket away somewhere (under stairs/wardrobe etc). Maybe the jacket got knocked off the door by the guy & the keys & cards fell out, so he put them on the fireplace & put the jacket somewhere else ?

Why wasn't the carpet measurer kept an eye on. I know I would certainly keep an eye on any stranger that entered my house....& why did no-one see him leave with the jacket ?

Are the friends well known & trustworthy ?. You say that your father is in property maintenance. Does he maintain the property of the 'friends' house he was visiting ?.
Could it be an elaborate, well thought out plan by the 'friends' to make you think the carpet guy had taken the money & jacket, when all along it could be them who took the cash & hid the jacket ?

Was there anyone else in the house apart from your parents & their friends ?....a butler or maid perhaps ?. Children ?.
What about a playful dog that, after the jacket had possibly fallen from the door (& keys & cards fallen out, & put on the fireplace by the carpet guy) had taken it out to the back garden & hidden it in bushes ?

A bit of a 'Who-Dun-It' :)

Title: Re: Advice please (non car related)
Post by Daniel on May 9^th, 2014, 9:22am

Hi mate,
We have no idea why he didnt take it all, maybe he is only a 'petty thief', he could of easily took the car too, but chose not to.
The jacket wasn't a designer label, just a fleece jumper with my dads company name on it. I think by taking the jacket, it would be possible to think we had just lost the jacket, BUT by moving the keys and cards that plan failed ::)
My mom is the driver and she left the keys in the jacket because my dad was in and out getting tools, etc. So to find them on the fire place was a shock.
The coat was definatey hanging on the door.
To be honest i really dont know why he wasnt kept an eye on. If i was there i would have certainly been watching.
The freinds are well known and my parents do trust them. At the time my dad was working, painting, fencing in the garden, new kitchen work top etc.
I suppose there is always the possibility of it being a well thought out plan but we really don't think this is the case at all.
The only child in the house was my little sister
There was 2 Labradors, one 2 years old and one 11 years old, but both are quiet and wouldn't pinch clothes.
The company are being contacted so i will let you all know how we get on.
Thanks for all the advice everyone
Dan :)

Title: Re: Advice please (non car related)
Post by Jonnycab on May 9^th, 2014, 11:16am

Looks like the carpet guy is guilty then :)