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Always wondered if you can't get compensation from whoever stated the lockup was secure in these circumstances. At work we have a locked storage room, access is managed by reception. If someone managed to get it, I'd hold them accountable for not adequately securing a "secure" room?
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I had a nice conversation with a police lady from the forensics dept. last night. She was trying to get fingerprints from a crowbar that was found outside our flat (to no avail). I learnt that it's extremely hard to make evidence stick. Even if you find prints or DNA at the scene, it won't stand up in court because it's a communal area, and the thief could argue that they were there by chance.
From personal experience, they will charge if they get print or DNA. A thief who I caught in our block (neighbours bike recovered with prints) was charged and convicted.
Unless they live in your building there is no reasonable explanation as to why they were in a secure communal area in your building. They might try to claim it is a communal area, but unless they can explain why there DNA would be in a room which they do not have access to it would not stand up in court.
In my case, once they revealed they had prints the guy pled guilty in court.
Sorry to hear, it is never a nice thing to deal with. FWIW I got our freeholder to fit a hasp and massive combination padlock after the above incident. I also lock our bikes with a d-lock and one massive motorcycle lock around all the bikes. Fortunately I live in a small block and my bedroom is next to the store so I heard them. If you live in a bigger block it would be much more difficult I guess if the store is not in close proximity to your flat.
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Really sorry to hear this, extremely frustrating! Sadly it is a common story, communal areas in blocks are watched and targeted.
If you tweet us, we will RT the details! - the @StolenRide community will do what it can.
We have lots planned this year in terms of prevention and recovery + will be kicking up a media storm about stolen bikes - we will do what we can in London & will be asking all London cyclists for ideas and support.
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croft
mustardbeak
StolenRide
@Big_Poe
My two week old bike, worth £1.5k, was stolen at the weekend from inside a 'secure' lockup, inside my block of flats. I hadn't gotten around to sorting insurance out so basically I'm totally fucked. Yes, I know, I'm a complete idiot for not being organised on that front.
Prior to this happening I had thought that bikes were more vulnerable on the street. Turns out this is not the case. Having read this thread and spoken to the police about it, I get the impression that the majority of bikes are stolen from communal areas inside blocks of flats, or other properties.
I had a nice conversation with a police lady from the forensics dept. last night. She was trying to get fingerprints from a crowbar that was found outside our flat (to no avail). I learnt that it's extremely hard to make evidence stick. Even if you find prints or DNA at the scene, it won't stand up in court because it's a communal area, and the thief could argue that they were there by chance.
I don't have a lot of hope that the security in my block of flats will be improved. The ultimate deterrent would be to get CCTV but apparently today's criminal doesn't give a fuck. The only hope is that you catch their face on camera and then use the evidence to track your bike down. But it won't stop your bike from getted nicked in the first place.
That just leaves insurance, which I always knew was the only real form of security. That's a pretty shitty conclusion IMO. This experience has left me thinking that there should be a better way to tackle the problem in the first place. Bike theft is massive business and the police clearly don't have a handle on it. All they do is come around, take a statement and then close your case the next day. They're basically just facilitating the insurance claim process. I know this will sound naive. I just hadn't realised quite how vulnerable bikes are, even when they're locked behind three doors and with a fat chain / D-lock.
That's my tale of woe then. Moral of the story, make sure you've got insurance, which you already knew anyway. But also, is there a way we can put pressure on the police collectively to get a handle on bike theft?