Reuniting treasures

This morning, I met the team of police officers and staff who are working methodically and meticulously to reunite the stolen property found a few days ago, with their owners. Indeed Sgt Nick Perks (second from the right) said it has been good to phone people up and tell them their tool has been recovered and would they like it back sometime soon?

Nick the local problem solving sergeant, has been leading the operation to tackle the tool thefts. As a former tradesman himself, he knows how important the gear is to the people who had the items stolen. (It also means he can identify some of the more exotic and complicated items that have been discovered!)

Good solid police work managed to uncover the stolen property near to Buckingham a week ago which led them to find some more containers full of stuff in Milton Keynes a couple of days later. (Fortunately, the MK police are sorting out that haul, as our local bobbies have run out of space as you can see in the photograph!)

Supt Tim Metcalf (on the right of the pic) explained that some of the items are clearly counterfeit too which will lead them to a whole new line of inquiry on this fraudulent activity as well. He reckons that currently they have about £100k+ worth of gear to work their way through. Some of the individual items are worth hundreds if not thousands each. He is optimistic that the people they have arrested will receive custodial sentences. Indeed, both Tim and Nick will be tracking down victim statements that will be read out in court in order to explain the impact on people's lives of these crimes. This will influence the sentences issued. (in my view, the thieves deserve to have the full force of the justice system brought to bear on them.) The police also hope to use the Proceeds of Crime Act to recover money from the convicted felons too, in the fullness of time.

This was not just a local haul either. Some of the items recovered have come from miles away including (for example) Bridgend in South Wales.

I left the team working hard on this investigation. They asked me to make it clear that they will do their level best to make sure that as many of the items are returned to their owners as possible. Of course, this is not helped if there are no identifying marks on the equipment.

So the message is: if you have such equipment - please, please make sure you have marked it in some way (with a UV pen or scratched it etc) with your name / business name / phone number / post code etc. And/or keep a record of the serial numbers - just a photo on a phone will do.

And, if people are buying second hand gear from car boot sales - be careful that you are not buying counterfeit items. If the price is too good to be true... the price is probably too good to be true...!

And don't forget the public meeting next week in the Library - in Verney Close of course!