Stolen gear, Airdrie area (near Glasgow)

[Geek99]

On 22/07/2020 at 12:07, geoham said:

I think we're on the cusp of a happy ending for the Jazz Bass at least, no sign of the Helix or other bits - though it's bass I care most about.

The shop won't give me the bass, which is understandable - they want the Police to collect it. The Police seem to be the biggest problem right now, two days and three calls later and still no sign of them showing any interest whatsover. It's apparently not as simple as them just going to the shop (I don't see why!), and I need to wait for them.

My concern is that Cash Generator unwittingly end up selling it again!

George

They’d be selling stolen goods, since you’ve informed them its not legally theirs 

[ubit]

It's scary when I think of the amount of times I left gear in the car overnight. When we were playing regularly, I often would pack the car after the gig and walk home as I would have had a few. If we were playing in a place that we played a lot, we would be allowed to leave the gear in a corner. Again, luckily we never had anything damaged or nicked. Pure luck I guess.

[dmccombe7]

3 hours ago, ubit said:

It's scary when I think of the amount of times I left gear in the car overnight. When we were playing regularly, I often would pack the car after the gig and walk home as I would have had a few. If we were playing in a place that we played a lot, we would be allowed to leave the gear in a corner. Again, luckily we never had anything damaged or nicked. Pure luck I guess.

That was quite common for us to pick the gear up the following morning when it was local gigs.

[ubit]

8 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

That was quite common for us to pick the gear up the following morning when it was local gigs.

Yeah, one place we used to sometimes leave the stuff there all week. There were people playing pool with this big pile of speakers and stuff. We were only a two piece back then so it was not too much stuff and we wouldn't leave the guitars but even so, it was risky when you think what could happen.

[geoham]

On 25/07/2020 at 23:12, kodiakblair said:

If you think they'll sell it before the polis get there, can't you stick a deposit on it ?

That's a fair point... 

I'm hoping to hear back from the police today, the office was going to go in over the weekend if she had time.

George

[geoham]

On 25/07/2020 at 23:05, Swaffle88 said:

I hope you get your bass back mate and the scummy neddy junkie bastard (probably) that stole it gets a good kick in the D.ick

I'm actually flabbergasted on how little interest the police have in investigating. Apparently simply selling stolen goods barely warrants a conversation, as it's difficult to prove any crime - that the seller stole it themselves or even knew it was stolen. My suggestion of searching their house for the Helix and other items was basically laughed at.

The shop are apparently entirely innocent. It's not reasonable to expect them to share information between stores (I'd provided all the details to my local branch) or Google a serial number. The fact that the seller was willing to let it go for so little (probably about £90) is no cause for concern either - only a guitar expert would be expected to know what a used Fender Jazz would be worth. 

For those of you that don't know the area, Rutherglen isn't particularly easy to get to from Airdrie without a car and there are plenty of other similar shops that are much easier to access, assuming the thief is from the local area. However, I had several workers in my house the day of the theft - booked via a shop much closer to Rutherglen. I'd suggested that if the seller happened to be one of the guys that was in my house that day, then that would surely be worth investigating a bit further. But apparently not, it doesn't prove anything.

So, I'm optimistic that I will get the bass back, as soon as the police can find time to go in to the shop. But using the seller details to try and find my other bits or get a prosecution probably won't happen.

George

[gjones]

On 22/07/2020 at 12:18, geoham said:

I've had that conversation with the store manager and received assurances... but I'm not exactly confident in their abilities. I think I'll put in in writing to be certain though.

They insist they don't have the Helix, seems weird a thief would try and off load gear at two different places though.

Thanks,

George

Look up Cash Converter Edinburgh. There was a manager, at their Edinburgh shop, who ended up going to prison, as he set up a separate account to fence stolen goods, that didn't go through the books. I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them. 

 

edit: cash generator not converter https://www.scotsman.com/news/cash-generator-branch-boss-jailed-after-selling-stolen-goods-worth-ps50k-1679683

Edited July 27, 2020 by gjones

[geoham]

1 hour ago, gjones said:

Look up Cash Converter Edinburgh. There was a manager, at their Edinburgh shop, who ended up going to prison, as he set up a separate account to fence stolen goods, that didn't go through the books. I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them. 

 

edit: cash generator not converter https://www.scotsman.com/news/cash-generator-branch-boss-jailed-after-selling-stolen-goods-worth-ps50k-1679683

Wow! Unbelievable!

[kodiakblair]

1 hour ago, geoham said:

I'm actually flabbergasted on how little interest the police have in investigating.

They don't care. 

 

We had 2 work's van emptied outside the digs. Took 4 days for the police to turn up,even that was under duress.  Never asked for a list of missing tools (everything) nor did they pay more than a passing glance to the CCTV footage.

[gjones]

1 hour ago, geoham said:

I'm actually flabbergasted on how little interest the police have in investigating. Apparently simply selling stolen goods barely warrants a conversation, as it's difficult to prove any crime - that the seller stole it themselves or even knew it was stolen. My suggestion of searching their house for the Helix and other items was basically laughed at.

The shop are apparently entirely innocent. It's not reasonable to expect them to share information between stores (I'd provided all the details to my local branch) or Google a serial number. The fact that the seller was willing to let it go for so little (probably about £90) is no cause for concern either - only a guitar expert would be expected to know what a used Fender Jazz would be worth. 

For those of you that don't know the area, Rutherglen isn't particularly easy to get to from Airdrie without a car and there are plenty of other similar shops that are much easier to access, assuming the thief is from the local area. However, I had several workers in my house the day of the theft - booked via a shop much closer to Rutherglen. I'd suggested that if the seller happened to be one of the guys that was in my house that day, then that would surely be worth investigating a bit further. But apparently not, it doesn't prove anything.

So, I'm optimistic that I will get the bass back, as soon as the police can find time to go in to the shop. But using the seller details to try and find my other bits or get a prosecution probably won't happen.

George

I assume they have CCTV footage of the seller. You could then tell them if that was one of the workmen in your house. 

[Bassfinger]

That's even if they still have the footage - due to GDPR storage guidelines they're unlikely have footage over 28 days old.

[geoham]

13 hours ago, Bassfinger said:

That's even if they still have the footage - due to GDPR storage guidelines they're unlikely have footage over 28 days old.

May still be an option - they only sold it a week or so ago. It was taken just before lockdown, then sold shortly after the shops reopened.

[geoham]

17 hours ago, kodiakblair said:

They don't care. 

 

We had 2 work's van emptied outside the digs. Took 4 days for the police to turn up,even that was under duress.  Never asked for a list of missing tools (everything) nor did they pay more than a passing glance to the CCTV footage.

At least they turned up, in my case it took a week for an officer to call me!

My conversations with the officer suggested a really narrow view - ‘based on what I know now can I arrest this person?’. I’m thinking - does the seller have my other gear, or that of any one else? If not, they can surely get some intelligence. But nothing like that at all.

I really don’t get it. I assume that people join the police to do some good. There always seems to be plenty of resources to deal with social media trolls or motorists, but there seems to be little desire deal with crimes like theft. 

I can only infer the police focus on those crimes they can get quick and easy prosecutions for, compared to actually doing some good in the community. Presumably all related to improving crime stats and budget cuts.

I’ll stop my rant now....

George

[Burns-bass]

The police are woefully underfunded and understaffed. (We voted for this folks, so we can’t complain).

I was once mugged at knifepoint (I was very drunk and it was all very odd) but they picked up the guy in days, prosecuted him and he was jailed. 

In an ideal world all crimes would be investigated, but a low-value theft isn’t going to be particularly high up on the pecking order.

A flat I rented was broken into once and the police report was treated as merely a formality I went though before calling the insurance company to get my claim started. Today if my house were broken into I’d assume the case would be the same.

[T-Bay]

15 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

The police are woefully underfunded and understaffed. (We voted for this folks, so we can’t complain).

I was once mugged at knifepoint (I was very drunk and it was all very odd) but they picked up the guy in days, prosecuted him and he was jailed. 

In an ideal world all crimes would be investigated, but a low-value theft isn’t going to be particularly high up on the pecking order.

A flat I rented was broken into once and the police report was treated as merely a formality I went though before calling the insurance company to get my claim started. Today if my house were broken into I’d assume the case would be the same.

Not all of us voted for this by any stretch 😉 but I have found the Police to be very variable over the years and a lot seems to come down to the staffing of the local team. Living by a park in a small market town and working in a profession where I fairly regularly either have to report matters to the police or act in a professional capacity in court I have seen the best and worst. We had a local officer who was utter scum, she was a disgrace to the Police force and the local team were, in my view, corrupt when they ‘lost’ evidence after she crashed her car into an OAPs house when drunk. I have also seen officers who go the extra mile and genuinely to everything in their power to be the best they can be. Thankfully the good officers have outweighed the bad but a lot of the culture seems to come from the head of the local team. The cuts have been horrendous but some forces were pretty rubbish before that. Recently there was a spate of thefts from cars overnight, all small stuff, but the local team have worked hard and caught those responsible, so some still do care about the small things.

[xgsjx]

I’m all for lose a finger for a theft. It would make many think twice & the determined idiots are gonna find it hard to steal with just 2 pinkies. 

[lou24d53]

I'm a Wishaw lad too...last year I came home from a Glasgow gig, got home nearly 1.00am and was too excited for my fat, greasy kebab, that not only did I leave my car unlocked, I had left the the rear drivers side door wide open after I forgot to go back out...leaving inside a Barefaced Super Twin and Fender Am. Standard Precision wide to the world...

Thankfully the local Lanarkshire junkie neds had an off night, but it fair shook me up thinking how bloomin' stoooooopid I'd been...!!

Edited July 28, 2020 by lou24d53

[taunton-hobbit]

I'd cut their hands off - at the neck ............

😎

[mcnach]

45 minutes ago, lou24d53 said:

I'm a Wishaw lad too...last year I came home from a Glasgow gig, got home nearly 1.00am and was too excited for my fat, greasy kebab, that not only did I leave my car unlocked, I had left the the rear drivers side door wide open after I forgot to go back out...leaving inside a Barefaced Super Twin and Fender Am. Standard Precision wide to the world...

Thankfully the local Lanarkshire junkie neds had an off night, but it fair shook me up thinking how bloomin' stoooooopid I'd been...!!

 

I had two drunks reaching into our open van and grab a saxophone case.

I was standing right there 

Needless to say, they did not leave with anything, although they very nearly took home a couple of knuckle sandwiches. One of the guys backed off immediately, but the other acted offended that I called him a thief (I WAS THERE! I SAW HIM GRAB IT AND ATTEMPT TO LEG IT!) and I had to very clearly and unambiguously threaten him with violence if he didn't go away. Ugh... drunks.

[lou24d53]

Some people have baws of steel...!!

[Swaffle88]

That’s why u need toe caps of steel to deal with them

[gjones]

1 hour ago, lou24d53 said:

I'm a Wishaw lad too...last year I came home from a Glasgow gig, got home nearly 1.00am and was too excited for my fat, greasy kebab, that not only did I leave my car unlocked, I had left the the rear drivers side door wide open after I forgot to go back out...leaving inside a Barefaced Super Twin and Fender Am. Standard Precision wide to the world...

Thankfully the local Lanarkshire junkie neds had an off night, but it fair shook me up thinking how bloomin' stoooooopid I'd been...!!

I did that once and I wasn't so lucky. My bass got nicked. On the bright side - at least the junkies didn't need to break a window to get into my car.

I found my bass a year later in the local pawnshop.

So all's well that ends well, I suppose.

[Angelus]

Just up the road from Wishaw, in Lanark, we've had "neds" trying car/van door handles and peoples house/flat doors over the last few years. They've got lucky a few times, one guys work tools were all taken ( self employed joiner ). A few CCTV shots were intially shared on facebook, but taken down again? Not sure if they got their stuff back, were threatened or the police told them to take them down? But they clearly showed faces of those guilty of no good. So armed with a film of the crime, no one has ever been caught and the thieving has never stopped? I never, ever, leave anything in the car these days, but trying to unload in the early hours of the morning, with two dogs barking, usually wakes the rest of the house up. Then I don't get my kebab to myself. 🙄

[cheddatom]

We had 10 guitars nicked from our house in Stoke about 15 years ago. The police were great, fingerprinted absolutely everything in the house, there must have been 5 officers there, god knows how much that cost. Never heard from them again. Weird!

[stewblack]

3 minutes ago, cheddatom said:

We had 10 guitars nicked from our house in Stoke about 15 years ago. The police were great, fingerprinted absolutely everything in the house, there must have been 5 officers there, god knows how much that cost. Never heard from them again. Weird!

Massive cuts to public spending and a pandemic probably hasn't helped the Old Bill maintain this level of service.