A tale of a stolen Safari

[Brian M]

From: 2Diesels (Original Message) Sent: 06/04/2007 18:16
Hello everybody could you all keep your eyes open for my 17/2 the one I recently got from Oliver. It was stolen from my estate yesterday lunchtime &was seen being towed away by a dark blue mondeo or similar. If anyone should be offered this caravan could you phone the police straight away. It's very distinctive white with a gold stripe & an aircon pod on the roof, there are a few photos in Oliver's Safaris album on page three of our photo pages many thanks
Colin



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Recommend Message 7 of 21 in Discussion

From: Brian Sent: 12/04/2007 21:12
Shell replied to my email sent to all members with the following good suggestion:

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From: shell

Is there no chance of them catching your caravan on one of the many cameras we now have in this country. Perhaps they could catch it on the nearest road i believe they can even make out the faces of those who are in the vehicle. You never know Collin it might be worth asking your local control center if they have anything that might help. As far as I am aware you can put in this type of request to your local police station.. I do so hope you get get it back...

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In my town you can certainly ask the Town Police to check locations at certain times. You are not allowed to see the film, but if there is a good shot of your Caravan being towed they will pass on the details to the Police.

Brian



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Recommend Message 8 of 21 in Discussion

From: Brian Sent: 13/04/2007 19:15
Another reply to my members' email:

Brian, it may be fruitful to check with ferry ports, particularly those serving the Irish republic- when we were in Eire we were astonished by how many new caravans with no registration plates but GB stickers on the back were parked in out of the way places. Bit of a giveaway .
A letter to the Caravan Club magazine Editor and a photo, should have thousands of beady eyes on the lookout for something so unusual, for some time to come- it should be possible to sustain interest in getting it back, or at east catching the thieves, amongst committed caravanners.
Yours, Caroline and Steve , aka Towed Hall.




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Recommend Message 9 of 21 in Discussion

From: Brian Sent: 15/04/2007 22:36
Colin

Something else you might like to do.

The Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs is seeking details of all classic vehicle thefts including Caravans.

This is a link to their form.

www.fbhvc.co.uk/contact/theft-report.htm

Brian


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Recommend Message 10 of 21 in Discussion

From: OliverShaw1 Sent: 17/04/2007 10:19
Colin,

A parallel line of action that you might like to consider.

Have a look at eBay, item no. 280105191789.

This appears to be a 1978 17-S.

Only one bid thus far, just £1, and the high bidder appears to be a breaker. (Incidentally a look at his shop might be useful to some members; I am currently bidding on his Comet Chrome mixer tap as fitted to our Safaris.)

Caravan seems much to good to let it go to a breaker for £1!

Conflicting information at this stage whether it is in Plymouth or in Derbyshire, but I have drawn this to the vendor's attention, so no doubt it will be resolved shortly.

Might be worth putting in a bid, and if you win and if your one later turns up (and is undamaged) then you have one to sell. If you are lucky enough to get it cheaply that MIGHT BE a bargain.

And this time, if you didn't previously, use a wheelclamp and hitchlock! They won't stop the determined thief, but at least they are likely to induce the casual thief to try for an easier target elsewhere.

Regards,





Oliver


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Recommend Message 11 of 21 in Discussion

From: 2Diesels Sent: 17/04/2007 19:32
Thanks again Brian I've done the FBHVC thing & asked the police to see about the port authorities bit so we'll just see what transpires. It's Appleby horse fair shortly so it might get sold there & head for Ireland if it's still about.

Regards Col


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Recommend Message 12 of 21 in Discussion

From: 2Diesels Sent: 17/04/2007 22:18
Oliver I've put a cheeky little bid on that 17-s it'll probably go for much more but you never know
Regards Colin



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Recommend Message 13 of 21 in Discussion

From: fiona_dyes Sent: 18/04/2007 20:35
Just over 2 days to go on that, good luck.


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Recommend Message 14 of 21 in Discussion

From: OliverShaw1 Sent: 20/04/2007 18:33
Very narrowly trumped, but by only £5.

Just over 4 hours to go.

The other bidder may of course have entered a higher maximum bid, but if you want the caravan don't be pipped at the post.

Good luck,





Oliver


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Recommend Message 15 of 21 in Discussion

From: 2Diesels Sent: 24/04/2007 19:54
I let that caravan go I know it was only another fiver but then it's only another one then another one & before you know where you are it's another 50 quid so it goes on & then there's the cost of getting it back up here from Plymouth & the only thing I have on the road with a towbar is that old BMC wagon & I dont fancy going all that way in it. Ahh something else will crop up a bit nearer to home

Colin



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Recommend (1 recommendation so far) Message 16 of 21 in Discussion

From: shell Sent: 26/04/2007 20:24
Hi Collin,
I work for a group called friends and family of travellers. I know how angry you must be as I have had a caravan stolen in the past.
A group of my friends are going to Appelby I have asked them to watch out for your Safari.
The main point I would like to make is that not all travellers are thiefs, although according to most media that is the case. I would ask you to keep an open mind on this theft.
Did you contact the police in case there were any cameras that picked up the vehicle towing your caravan.
All the best and I do so hope you get it back, it might also be worth having a look round your local yards. Shell


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Recommend Message 17 of 21 in Discussion

From: 2Diesels Sent: 27/04/2007 21:15
Hi Shell sorry if I caused you any offence with my hint towards the travelling community being at fault but there is a group of them in our area at the moment who have been here in previous years & have actually stolen stuff from where I work (our security cameras spotted them) so I hope you can understand where I was coming from.

I am very grateful for your other advice & for putting the feelers out etc. I would have tried the CCTV thing but there is none where I live, also I am quite pally with a few of the local scrapmen & they are all keeping an eye out but nothing has been seen yet & I would think if it has been taken for the scrap someone would know something by now.

Cheers for now
Col


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Recommend Message 18 of 21 in Discussion

From: TeddyvanGogh Sent: 29/04/2007 19:07
Hi Colin

So sorry to hear about the Safari.

Don't know if we can be of any help but would you mind giving us a ring. I won't advertise on this website where we are, but I would think you'll remember as you have been to ours on several occasions. We have 2 safaris ourselves and a little 2 berth Mardon.

Hope to speak to you soon.
Eric & Les


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Recommend Message 19 of 21 in Discussion

From: Nonraps Sent: 09/09/2007 22:31
There's a 17/2 Safari on Ebay complete with a roof mounted aircon pod.
Ebay item 120160124155

Might be of interest


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Recommend Message 20 of 21 in Discussion

From: AlecGatherer Sent: 16/09/2007 12:21
Well spotted, Nonraps. Any follow-up?


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Recommend Message 21 of 21 in Discussion

From: AlecGatherer Sent: 16/09/2007 16:53
In case anyone else was wondering, I am reliably informed that there will be a follow-up, when considered appropriate. Ongoing situation I imagine. Still well-spotted though.

[Brian M]

From: 2Diesels (Original Message) Sent: 17/09/2007 14:11
Well the Police have seized my caravan & I'm off to collect it now. Thanks everybody for their help especially Cliff (nonraps) for spotting the ad in the first place, Brian for Googling the earth & finding the exact location, Oliver for all his help reporting it to the Police & the amazing amount of info he was able to provide, my friends Ian & Holly who read the postings but aren't members for flying round to my house to tell me what was going on there'll be a drink for you at the Snowy Owl sometime soon & last but not least all other members for their ongoing support with this matter

THANKS EVER SO MUCH
Col




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Recommend Message 2 of 9 in Discussion

From: AlecGatherer Sent: 17/09/2007 16:57
Brilliant. I'll have a couple of pints tonight to celebrate with you.


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Recommend Message 3 of 9 in Discussion

From: Brian Sent: 17/09/2007 18:58
Colin

That is absolutely fantastic news and just goes to show the power of the internet and this Group in particular.

To all other members, I should point out that after non-raps spotted the ebay auction, Colin, Oliver and myself felt it better to keep all activity off the group so as not to alert the vendor in case he was watching.

Oliver and Colin reported the ebay sale to the Police who at first told Colin that they couldn't get any information from Ebay owing to the Data Protection Act. We were all astonished at this statement, as the Police have the right to ask for any data that is normally protected if they have reason to believe that a crime has been committed.

We were certain that it was the Safari that Oliver had passed on to Colin, as it still had Oliver's registration number visible on the back of the Safari. That was without all the unique features that Oliver was able to list and pass on to the Police.

I was not willing to let the Police ignore this sale of stolen property so I printed out the pictures from the ebay particulars, and made a rough sketch of the houses, roads and fields in the backgrounds. Using Google Earth, I started in the village quoted as the location of the Safari but found nowhere that matched so I extended my search to adjacent villages. Five minutes later I had identified the location and emailed Colin and Oliver the exact address, so the Police would not need to trouble Ebay!

Let us all hope that any toe-rag thinking of stealing a Safari will read this and realise that they won't be keeping their ill-gotten gains for long, as there are two hundred of us looking for them!

Action like this makes me feel that the work that goes in to keeping this group active is really worthwhile.

I look forward to having the pint that Colin has promised us.

Brian
A very proud group founder!


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Recommend Message 4 of 9 in Discussion

From: OliverShaw1 Sent: 17/09/2007 20:08
Thanks very much to everyone who assisted, and in particular those (several individuals?) who spotted it on eBay. Whether deliberately or otherwise it wasn't listed under Safari, so my own permanent eBay search hadn't turned it up.

Also particular thanks to Brian, not only for his sterling work in locating it, but also for founding a Group that has really turned up trumps in this matter,

Brian has recounted the story of what was happening behind the scenes. I contacted the police on the Monday morning, and supplied them with annotations to the photos on the eBay ad detailing around 40 identifying features (of which the coup de grace was the registration number of my late car!), as well as features not visible on the photos which they could check by inspection (serial and chassis numbers, and carefully hidden identifiers of my own).

After having done all that I confess that by nearly a week later I was getting very frustrated with the lack of any visible progress. However it is now clear that they were actually doing something behind the scenes, so full marks to them.

Thanks again to everyone in this Group who helped.




Oliver


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Recommend Message 5 of 9 in Discussion

From: Sylvesteruk1 Sent: 17/09/2007 20:37
Colin,

Nice to know you are still alive after letting me down at Berwick on Tweed with your wanted window in June and never replying to my emails. Do you normally treat fellow SAFARI owners in that way?

Mike


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Recommend Message 6 of 9 in Discussion

From: 2Diesels Sent: 17/09/2007 21:38
Mike No that is not really my style but I think you'll find an appology which I made just a couple of weeks ago which was the first time I had been on here due to various reasons. There was a very good reason for my not turning up but I am not prepared to go into that on here.
So appologies once again
Colin


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Recommend Message 7 of 9 in Discussion

From: 2Diesels Sent: 17/09/2007 21:51
I got the caravan back this afternoon lightening my pocket to the tune of £105.00 for recovery & storage which I suppose is a small price to pay. The Police tell me they have a 2 or 3 names to investigate but the SOCO man came & dusted the inside for prints & there was nothing at all so it could be hard for them to make anything stick. From what I can gather the vendor wasn't the stealer but I think he's known it was "hot" especially by the way he hid the advert amongst the run of the mill caravans. It is thankfully in pretty much the same condition as when it left me apart from inside the mirror on the wardrobe is broken, the crockery is missing & the curtains have gone & on the outside it has lost a rear grab handle, the door window is cracked on the outer skin & it has picked up a scratch along the side so all in all not too bad, Oh & the brakes aren't working but I haven't checked that out yet. It is now locked away with my wagon in a pretty secure compound & will hopefully be joining the little one at my normal storage place later in the week.

That's it for now if anything else comes to light I'll let you know
Cheers for now
Colin


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Recommend Message 8 of 9 in Discussion

From: fiona_dyes Sent: 18/09/2007 15:52
I am really pleased to hear that you've got your 'van back. It's a shame that it's been damaged, hopefully you'll get that sorted easily.

Fiona
xx


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Recommend Message 9 of 9 in Discussion

From: Alfie-Red Sent: 23/09/2007 22:31
Hi! I am very glad for you and your Safari. That's great! When I saw the ad on E-Bay, I felt immediately something was a bit strange - a man advertises a 17' Safari not calling it a Safari! Also there was a far too short a description, so I ( silly!..)) ) sent the vendor an E-mail asking a lot of questions and explaining that he loses many potential buyers by being so unspecific. )))
I remember how about 10 years ago I've bought a huge HOBBY caravan, which was not possible to keep by the place I've lived then. I was keeping it in a nearby little street, on tow with my car, as I was preparing it to go to Spain in a few days. I took off all the curtains to wash (2 big bags). After 3 days of working on the caravan, trying to clean it up and repair some bits, I had to take away my car for 40 mins to get kids to school. When I returned all was left there was the towing hatch (with an "apple" inside) - unbolted as the thieves couldn't dig the "apple" out. I hurried to the Police and asked them to radio all policemen in the area to look for the caravan the size of rail wagon. They refused and started instead asking 100 questions - how, where, when etc. - and said somebody would be assigned on this matter.
The caravan was, of course, never found. Had the Police did what I'd asked them, they would've found it on the double - the thieves obviously had towed it just a bit and left to cool down, for a few hours, to see if there would be a hot pursuit. In the afternoon I found on the road in our street a detached wheel cover - they towed it away and scratched in hurry some of parked cars.
That, apart of two bags of freshly-washed curtains, was all I had left.
So, Colin, just to tell you how lucky you are!
All the best.
Alfred