Scum of the earth

[Lons]

You could say he should have taken them indoors every night.o

Unfortunately that comment is absolutely correct, in this day age as it's odds on a van parked outside will be broken into eventually. I made sure my van was emptied of all tools every night however long it took as I wasn't insured due to prohibitive premiums.

That said, the little scrotes should be strung up by their privates and stoned by their victims. I had a workshop vac stolen from the drive of a house where I was working and just that caused me a huge problem.

 

[tomatwark]

One of the guys who works for me had our workmate set up out side a customers front door as he was only cutting a couple of last bits on a job he was finishing off.

Goes inside to check the fit comes out less than a minute later, to find some scumbag walking off down the drive with our workmate.

The scumbag says he thought it had been left out for the binmen, complete with saw dust and shavings.

 

[Lons]

Many years ago I chased 3 youths from our back garden across the field where they jumped into their waiting car and escaped. My next door neighbour had been burgled the week before and they were trying to get into my shed. I'd grabbed a hammer on the way out but a bit silly really as I'd have struggled against 3 and they no doubt had a wrecking bar or similar.
I got a right going over from the PC who came out later and he said that had I caught them I would definitely have been prosecuted. I was not happy and told him he should be out searching for criminals instead of lecturing victims! :roll: Once I'd cooled down I realized he was right of course.

My missus was a nurse at the time and put the word out around the hospitals to look out for them as they had barged through a thick hawthorn and blackthorn hedge with a barbed wire fence behind to escape. Never found them though.

I got a tip from a mate who's a DI. He said no problem defending your property as long as you can put forward a reasonable argument that you felt threatened and that your actions were instictive rather than premeditated. A hammer or baseball / cricket bat is fine, as surely it's reasonable that the only place you can store your cricket stuff is the room you happen to in at the time or your hammer was there along with other tools because you're in the middle of a DIY job and you're too lazy to put them away. :wink: keep a hammer under the bad takes some explaining and if you chase after the little barstewards you're potentially in deep doodoo.

 

[Keith 66]

I recently saw a facebook group Tools for sale in essex, the amount of drills grinders & porrtable power tools on there is amazing, prices are often very low. If most of it isnt nicked im a chinaman.

 

[pip1954]

Hi all
I'm in my sixty's an I have only ever met one person would not buy stolen items , but to my mind it depends where the stuff comes from I know it's not right but if it was brand new is one thing but secondhand is another thing , but at least I am being honest

 

[Bm101]

Well now you know two Pip. Several years back I was in a the friday club at my old local. 3pm. Sat out side, sunny day. Builders, roofers, sparks etc. The Lesser spotted Window Cleaner. Bloke pulls up, want to buy some tools lads? As one the table went 'No. F*** off mate' Most of their vans had been done over the years. They'd all lost out to theiving scrotes one way or another.
Chaps a bit of a div. I got all sorts here he goes. He was pretty much chased out of the place minus his wingmirrors. There's plenty of people who wont buy knock off.
So there's 6 or seven more for you.
Blokes working on my roof all of the same opinion. There's 4 or 5 more.
You be honest all you want mate 60 or not. I won't profit off another mans misfortune. Not only that I won't support the lowlife scum who peddle the tools of another mans trade and livelihood.
I'm not green or naive I just don't want any part of it.
I'll live with that.

 

[Woodchips2]

Just an update on this story from Radio Devon this morning. The carpenter has had loads of offers of replacement tools from businesses and individuals and he was really overwhelmed at the help offered. They also said that you can buy a skeleton key on the internet that will open vans with no need to break in. A lesson for all those with vans with tools in to add additional safety features.

Regards Keith

 

[Lons]

Just an update on this story from Radio Devon this morning. The carpenter has had loads of offers of replacement tools from businesses and individuals and he was really overwhelmed at the help offered. They also said that you can buy a skeleton key on the internet that will open vans with no need to break in. A lesson for all those with vans with tools in to add additional safety features.

Regards Keith

Great to hear he's been offered all that help but he is the exception, most of those robbed have to get by as best they can or go out of business.

I'm with BM101 and I won't buy anything I believe might be knocked off whether new or used we all pay the price of crime one way or another. If there weren't so many willing buyers there would be no market and no reason to steal in the first place. That of course is never going to happen.

As far as skeleton keys are concerned it a new one on me but doesn't matter anyway, if they want to be in then they will, all you can do is slow them down or put in security that makes a noise but the only sure way to avoid being robbed overnight is to empty the van. What's an extra 30 minutes compared with the potential loss of your livelyhood?
Anyone not doing that is knowingly taking what I believe to be an unacceptable risk!

Anyone with a modern van with remote keys also runs the same risk as we do with cars as they are easy enough to clone. My son lost £4000 worth of camera equipment from his Vauxhall Insignia in a public carpark when he left to take cases to a hotel in Manchester. He left the car for only 30 minutes and there was CCTV evidence to prove what they did but still no arrests were made as faces weren't clear.

Bob

 

[sawdust1]

They will still do thousands of pounds worth of damage breaking into a van to find it empty.
I remove anything valuable and leave the general tat like screw box/fixings /mastic tubes and a toolbox with general tools inside and then
leave the van unlocked.
I would rather loose £50 worth of tatt instead of £500 to replace a door. Ok really as i'm 1/2 mile from the nearest road down a one way lane.
The vans not worth nicking, hopefully !

 

[petermillard]

...but the only sure way to avoid being robbed overnight is to empty the van. What's an extra 30 minutes compared with the potential loss of your livelyhood?
Anyone not doing that is knowingly taking what I believe to be an unacceptable risk!
Bob

Have to agree. I have every sympathy for anyone who’s been done over, but I’ve had my van broken into a couple of times and lost nothing but time and money to replace the locks etc... because I’ve always emptied my van at the end of every working day, no matter how knackered I was. The guys who don’t are bumping up the insurance premiums for the rest of us.

Nothing much you can do if you get your van broken into whilst parked up on a job, of course, but leaving the means to earn your living in an unattended vehicle overnight is just woefully optimistic.

 

[novocaine]

a skeleton key is a myth, there simply isn't any such thing that will open all locks.
there are tools that can, if used correctly, open looks, including bump keys, quick picks and rakes that can pretty much be used by any moron who can tap, pull a trigger or wiggle a bit of metal. none of them are a fix all that will open any vehicle lock.

why bother though, when a brick through the window gets you in and out in seconds?

anyways, glad he's gotten so much help, it doesn't restore much of my faith in humanity though.

 

[NazNomad]

Just to lighten the mood a bit, I remembered following a 'Peter's Pies' van recently.

(bottom right of the pic)

 

[novocaine]

you can buy that as a sticker.

I believe it's popular in Wigan.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

For several years we had home for child crooks at the end of the avenue - doubly irritating as they weren't even our own crooks, they were shipped out by up country councils. We always left our cars open with nothing of value in them as they were searched with monotonous regularity and it was better not to have a smashed window. The children were known thieves and the police ingored the problem despite knowing exactly who they were and where they lived. Having said that in many cases of theft the police know the scrotes involved - but they also appreciate the futility of taking them to court, so don't bother with arresting them.

 

[bugbear]

That was a cold day in the cells, but would I do it again?

Hell yes.

Good to hear you're so opposed to theft.

BugBear

 

[ColeyS1]

Is there a link to the guy who got burgled?

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[tomatwark]

If you have a Transit Custom you should contact your local Ford dealer as there is an issue with the central locking, which is on a recall.

It means you can open the back doors once you have access to the front of the van by smashing a window.

They alter the software to stop this happening.

 

[cowfoot]

Well now you know two Pip. Several years back I was in a the friday club at my old local. 3pm. Sat out side, sunny day. Builders, roofers, sparks etc. The Lesser spotted Window Cleaner. Bloke pulls up, want to buy some tools lads? As one the table went 'No. F*** off mate' Most of their vans had been done over the years. They'd all lost out to theiving scrotes one way or another.
Chaps a bit of a div. I got all sorts here he goes. He was pretty much chased out of the place minus his wingmirrors. There's plenty of people who wont buy knock off.
So there's 6 or seven more for you.
Blokes working on my roof all of the same opinion. There's 4 or 5 more.
You be honest all you want mate 60 or not. I won't profit off another mans misfortune. Not only that I won't support the lowlife scum who peddle the tools of another mans trade and livelihood.
I'm not green or naive I just don't want any part of it.
I'll live with that.

I once gave a lift to a mate who’d had his van turned over the night before.
Pulled into a builder’s merchant on the way in, couple of lads whistle us over from a battered transit.
“Please not today you daft ****s” I remember thinking, just before one of them put himself in hospital by offering a bargain...his friend sped off before we had time to establish whether they were actually trying to sell my mate his own tools back, but even if they weren’t, unlucky. When you think about it, it’s a bloody stupid place to try and flog stolen gear.

 

[Paul200]

Well now you know two Pip. Several years back I was in a the friday club at my old local. 3pm. Sat out side, sunny day. Builders, roofers, sparks etc. The Lesser spotted Window Cleaner. Bloke pulls up, want to buy some tools lads? As one the table went 'No. F*** off mate' Most of their vans had been done over the years. They'd all lost out to theiving scrotes one way or another.
Chaps a bit of a div. I got all sorts here he goes. He was pretty much chased out of the place minus his wingmirrors. There's plenty of people who wont buy knock off.
So there's 6 or seven more for you.
Blokes working on my roof all of the same opinion. There's 4 or 5 more.
You be honest all you want mate 60 or not. I won't profit off another mans misfortune. Not only that I won't support the lowlife scum who peddle the tools of another mans trade and livelihood.
I'm not green or naive I just don't want any part of it.
I'll live with that.

Well said. It's simple really - if there wasn't a market there'd be less theft. The thieves aren't the only dishonest barstewards unfortunately.

 

[Woodchips2]

Today walked past a Transit tipper and the builder was doing a job inside the house. It was parked halfway on the pavement making it difficult to walk past but the keys were in the ignition with nobody in the vehicle and in the open back there was a Makita tool case. Some people just take risks!

Regards Keith