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Warning to Wrekin parkers
Monday 21st September 2009, 2:47PM BST.
Motorists are being urged to be on their guard and not leave valuables in their vehicles after a spate of thefts at a Shropshire beauty spot.
The call has come from Telford police following reports of thefts from vehicles parked near The Wrekin. During the last week, officers have received a number of reports of thefts from vehicles or attempted thefts.
One of the victims was Shropshire charity fundraiser Stacie Bagley who was targeted by thieves as she trained for a sponsored trek.
Stacie, of Broseley, is preparing for a charity walk to the top of Mount Snowdon in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care.
While she was training on Friday, thieves broke into her car and snatched a bag containing £250, her bank cards, house keys and a mobile phone.
Stacie said the money was reserved to buy hiking boots and equipment needed for the fundraising walk on October 3.
“I hope whoever is responsible is pleased with themselves. I have been training so hard. It has tarnished an event that I was really looking forward to,” she said.
“I feel so vulnerable. My mother has been forced the change the locks on our home. I am also worried that the thieves may be able to target my friends and family from the numbers stored on the phone.”
Police are appealing to motorists to report any suspicious persons or vehicles to them.
A Telford police spokeswoman said: “During the last 10 days we have received some reports of vehicle crime taking place in car parks and the area of The Wrekin. We would appeal to anyone in the area who sees any persons or vehicle acting suspiciously to contact us immediately.”
By Brett Gibbons
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Thieves have been targeting cars parked at the bottom of the wrekin for a long time on and off. It’s nothing new. In the nineties people were having their stereo’s robbed from the same parking areas all the time. It may be quiet, but it’s isolated. Also, people are generally gone for at least 3/4 hour if they’re going to the top and thieves know this. It’s like anywhere else, hide your valuables, or even better, leave them at home. I hope they catch the thieves, but there will be others to replace them.
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Leaving £250 in your car at the bottom of the Wrekin? That is asking for it isn’t it. I suppose she got what she deserved really.
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@Ken Eddy: Maybe its not that wise to leave your valuables in the car at the bottom of the Wrekin, but to say that she ‘deserved to get robbed’ is just pathetic.
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Marco you obviously do not know the law. She was not “robbed”, the crime was “theft”. Get real.
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Ken Eddy: Stacie may have been foolish in leaving her valuables in her car. However, no-one has the right to break into someone’s car and steal their belongings. You seem to be overlooking the reason she was up the wrekin in the first place, trying to help others. To say she got what she deserved is totally out of order and I wonder if the boot was on the other foot your opinion would be the same.
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bit out of order i think ken so deserved it then.
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ken i think you need to get real, no matter how much money someone leaves within there own propertey it does not give anyone the right to steal it.Think before you speak because it may happen to you one day and im sure you’ll have a different opinion then,
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Anyone who leaves that much money in an unattended vehicle is asking for it, and the reason that she was up the Wrekin has nothing at all to do with the reason for the theft.
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Whether it’s called theft, robbed, or just plain “getting stuff nicked” is totally irrelevant.
What is ALSO irrelevant is whether people deserve to have things stolen becuase thay happen to have left them in a vehicle.
WHAT IS TRUE is that NO-ONE should be stealing ANYTHING, from ANYWHERE at all !! It’s plainly WRONG – and shouldn’t be tolerated or excused.
With all this **CCTV and technology about, you’d think that the police could easily setup a situation to catch these thieves red-handed?
How about a few “marked cars” “left on the scene with valuables in view ” to “see what happens” ?
And once this proves successful – give it maximum publicity so REAL criminals get caught …..
** Oh – but sorry … I forgot… cameras are only there to catch otherwise decent law abiding motorists straying 1 or 2 miles above the speed limit. That is .. for the easy catch .. not to catch REAL criminals that involve more work, and don’t make money.
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I believe that leaving a car with items on show and arresting people who steal from it would be classed as entrapment. This is something the police are not allowed to do. The only way they could catch/stop these criminals is to have police officers stood around there all day or CCTV installed at the car park but of course people would complain that the police were spying on law abiding citizen if they did that.
Ken Eddy, I think saying she ‘deserved’ it is unfair. I think you should stick with saying she was ‘asking for it’. And this would only apply if something obviously valuable was left on show and not hidden etc. In the same way if a man goes swimming with hungry sharks and gets bitten you would say he was ‘asking for it’ but not that he deserves it. I call it ‘idiot tax’.
Keeping valuables with you, out of sight or locked away is common sense and easy to do so why doesn’t everyone do it?!
However, the criminals are still the real ones to blame here and so I hope they catch those responsible as their behaviour is terrible and disgusting.
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Vinnie (#10)
WOW!!! .. you say ..
“I believe that leaving a car with items on show and arresting people who steal from it would be classed as entrapment. This is something the police are not allowed to do”
So .. ISN’T providing “speed” cameras essentially the same??? – isn’t THAT entrapment ???
YOU KNOW when you are exceeding the speed limit. you have a speedo fitted, so … in EXACTLY same way, YOU KNOW when you are stealing . and that you are likely to get “photo’d” in EXACTLY the same way!! –
Where’s the difference?
I put it to you there’s ABSOUTELY NO difference!!
….. If it’s (“entrapment” that is) OK for Millions of motorists then it is damn well OK for a common thief .. who is doing it after all in a pre-medidated way – which in my opinion makes it far more “criminal”.
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I cannot believe some numnuts are saying she deserved to have the 250 pounds stolen – appalling – perhaps if it had happened to you would not be so heartless.
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Well done Ken Eddy for stating the obvious and not missing the point. Of course it was sad taht she had the money stolen. But surely anyone with an ounce of common sense would not leave that much money in an unattended car in the countryside.
The fact that she was on a charity walk is also, surely irrelevant. It is a sad thing that this happens at all.
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I would just like to point out that Stacie did not leave her bag on show, it was actually hidden under the seat. However, quite obviously she was being watched.
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i know i shudnt have took that much money up but i did and i have paid the price. it doesnt excuse the fact that someone cant keep there theifing hands off it. I just want to make others aware not to do the same up there. saying i deserved it well then if it ever happens to you then we will see how u feel. Y shud the person get away if it? 6 other cars were broken in to in them 2 days x
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I agree Stacey – Surely the Police could afford one officer to hide in the bushes and pounce on unsuspecting car thieves or is that asking too much.
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After blurting out about entrapment I thought I had better check my facts. Wikipedia defines it as:
“the act of a law enforcement agent inducing a person to commit an offense which would be illegal and the person would otherwise have been unlikely to commit” but does go on to say that in the UK it is usually where an officer as “encouraged” the offender to commit it.
For that reason, leaving a ‘honey trap’ car with items on show and police waiting may not count as entrapment as I first thought.
As for speed cameras, they are not entrapment either because they do not encourage the law to be broken. It is the speed limit that is the law being broken and the speed limit does not exist to catch out speeders but for safety of all road users. Speed cameras are the same as, say, CCTV outside a notorius night club. It is known people will fight outside it and so to catch/deter them a camera is set up. You can’t argue that because people are more than likely to break the law and fight outside the club that the camera is entrapment or that you were caught unfairly.
Back to the matter hand. Thankyou Stacie for making people aware of the thefts. If someone had been kind enough to pass the message onto you prior to all this then I’m sure it would have made the difference. It sounds as if you did all I would do to avoid the theft (except perhaps being silly enough to have £250 with you) and so my earlier comments on leaving valuables on show cannot be directed at you. Hopefully they will be caught by the skeptic/realist in me thinks this will never happen.
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Vinnie (#17)
I see that in essence, you now agree with me.
Actually I’m NOT in favour of cameras being used for any reason.
What is needed is more police presence, and more police “on the ground” activity.
However I’m intrigued by your comment:
“As for speed cameras, they are not entrapment either because they do not encourage the law to be broken”
Well – Neither does leaving valuables in a vehicle encourage you to break the law !!! –
Are you saying that if I see some valuable item on the back seat of your car, then I’m encouraged to nick it?
And you miss the point about entrapment.
The CAMERA merely RECORDS THE EVENT. It has NO BEARING on, or relation to the “inducement to commit any offence”.
In the case of a driver “speeding”, it may well be only due to lack of concentration for example – hardly a “crime” …
HOWEVER…. to STEAL SOMETHING, you HAVE to DECIDE to do it, and THEN obtain the item(s) to be stolen by breaking and entering – that is: in the case of a parked (and presumably locked, if left at the foot of the Wrekin) vehicle, break a window, or pick the lock etc ..
Either way – that act is a million miles away in terms of pre-meditation than just accidentally slipping over the speed limit
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I know i shudnt have taken that much money with me and thats my own fault fair comments. But i Did hide the bag under the passenger seat and i did lock the car. It does not excuse the fact someone had picked the lock and stolen the bag. i was odviously watched as nothing else was taken from the car. You Cant say i deserve it , if i had the bag on show and left the door open then fair comment but i didnt. About the mention of the charity i do want to say yes it is erelevent but i want the People who stole my bag to know just how low there are. They even went into my facebook and wrote a very crude message. is there any need?
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