So, you catch a 'thief'...

Sir, if you genuinely had a reason to be wheeling a fairly knacked Ridgeback with Eggbeaters on it (you were wearing trainers) down Grays Inn Road this evening before crossing over and walking back up then turning around and walking down again whilst carrying the biggest set of bolt croppers in London, then I apologise.

If the police officers on bicycles I gave your description to and showed this picture to a couple of minutes down the road detained you on your lawful way home I am even more sorry.

Sir, if you genuinely had a reason to be wheeling a fairly knacked Ridgeback with Eggbeaters on it (you were wearing trainers) down Grays Inn Road this evening before crossing over and walking back up then turning around and walking down again whilst carrying the biggest set of bolt croppers in London, then I apologise.

If the police officers on bicycles I gave your description to and showed this picture to a couple of minutes down the road detained you on your lawful way home I am even more sorry.

shouldn't that be on the 'spotted' thread?

that cocky little shit has got a face made for punching

So what you saying, people who work at fairs are thieves, .

Pretty much so yes - from my experience atleast. Don't get me started

Pretty much so yes - from my experience atleast. Don't get me started

and the Irish, whilst you're peddling (forgive the pun) stereotypes?

All sounds familiar. Gut instinct, you are probably right.
I stopped to help someone who accused a gentleman of trying to nick his scooter. The accused was wearing a full face helmet, Belstaff jacket, M/c boots and a courier bag . All looked authentic but he was walking very fast with his helmet on a very warm day. It did not add up. So I tried to talk to him to explain the situation, it went tits up with him wielding a large heavy pointy metal object at me and the accuser who now has blood pissing out of his head. I push him into the middle of the road and stand on his throat and tell the fucker to keep still. Old bill arrives. Blah, blah. 18 months later, Crown court, he finally pleads guilty. 100 plus previous, goes home. WTF.
Sorry for the ramble.

You could go up to him and say, "That's my bike, what the fuck are you doing?!"
If he gets defensive, then he's nicking it, if he looks confused, it's his.

fantastic..but whats next???

this was what happened to me on hammersmith hospital ... and he just legged it...

funny thing was he was there again the next day and the security got him...

Speaking as an Irish, and a ex-Fair Ground worker (holidays in Tramore anyone?), I found the carny folk a fairly honest bunch. Hard as hails, mind you, and they hate travellers, north siders, and the english. Never seen any nick bikes though.

i wudda called the old bill personally just to check it out

i caught a thife in the act twice, once he was having a go at my mates bike, so i walked up and said "thats not your bike" he said it was and he lost his keys, i said it was not it was my mates, and he should fuck off, fast wise. he took a swing at me, then ran. Seccond time i was in the bank, saw a guy messing with my frame, ran out the door yelling at him, and he took off down the street, lost him cuz my wallet was still in the bank, he droped the jack he had been useing on my d-lock.

caught a guy with a mates stolen bike, he was an ilegal imigrant we said give it back or we call the cops, and he did

Interesting one. To change the path of the discussion slightly again: there's a bike locked outside my flat which hasn't moved in two months. I've left a note on it with my number saying "This looks like it has been abandoned, give me a ring if you'd like me to take it off your hands".

If the note or bike haven't moved in another month I'm going to be angle grinding it to better use.

But I've been thinking about when to do it, and what I'd say to anyone who challenged me. In a way, I'd like to get the council to do it then give me the bike, but I just can't see that happening. Sunday mornings seem like a good bet, but the neighbours might be annoyed at the noise. A rainy day might be better as there would be fewer people on the street to interfere.

you need to hire a magician to stand on the other side of the street entertaining the public . you know kind of like a decoy! Or arrange for a large explosion to go off, just up the road as a diversion. ;)

my friends bike was stolen whilst on a day trip out of town, and we posted flyers saying $600 reward (negotiable) , no questions asked, please call --****. a kid called and said "i was just walking home from work, and snagged yer bike. i feel kinda bad." and gave his info. we went back and my friend offered him $100 since the guy straight up admitted to stealing his bike. The thief said suck off, you said 600. i guess i'm keeping the bike" so my friend beat the fuck out of him and took his bike back.

it was a vry odd couple of trips.

I don't know. I guess the answer is find/call a police officer and ask them to intervene.

Call a police officer, what number would you call ? 999 would not consider a possible bike being stolen an emergency in any way whatsoever. The number of your local police station will ring and ring for hours (I do not exaggerate here - hours, not minutes) if it is answered at all as on the front desk is usually just a single desk sergeant who has to deal with everything.

I know this from spending more than a few days in police stations over the years reporting my bikes stolen (10-ish so far) - if the phone rings no one will answer it, it is as simple as that, it's actually quite an annoying atmosphere to be in with an endlessly ringing phone.

I once had my bike stolen (one of many) and chased the bastard from Kentish town road to the corner of Camden Road, imagine my relief when I almost crashed into a policeman, out of breath I pointed to the bloke going off into the distance and told the copper that was my bike and it had just been stolen - what did he do ? Did he put out a call to any cars in the direction the bike was going ?

No, he told me that I am unlikely to get it back and got his note pad out and started to fill out a crime report - this is as the bloke on my bike was still visable !!

The police are not interested in bike theft, it is not a priority, this is evident by the epidemic of bike theft and the increasingly brazen attitude of bike thieves.

I recently saw a group of 5 or 6 kids with a pair of those long bolt croppers stealing a bike just off Belsize lane, no way was I going to stop them, it was in a quiet street and they looked like the sorts who would stab you for your phone, so I watched from a distance and - of course - phoned Hampstead police station - listened to around 5 minutes of ringing - they stole the bike - listened to around another 10 minutes of ringing - I hung up and went home.

If anyone here has reported a bike stolen in a police station you might start to get an idea of how bikes are seen by the law. On the description form you are asked whether your bike has rod brakes (yes those old solid rod brakes that have not been in use since the 1950s/1960s) - what kind of bell you have - handlebar mounted ? What kind of fenders you have - chrome or painted and so on - to some poor bastard who has just lost his posh mountain bike with disc brakes and a suspension fork it is like trying to point out his carbon fibre baby in the 1948 Raleigh catalogue - useless outdated madness.

I am rambling a bit here now, but what I am trying to say is that the police are not the answer.

Tynan thats exactly why i started stolen bike london, I have ideas about doing more, but they have to wait till next week when i'm back. Its no substitute, but its something.

Tynan thats exactly why i started stolen bike london, I have ideas about doing more, but they have to wait till next week when i'm back. Its no substitute, but its something.

Keen to hear the ideas !!

will try to get people at a pub some time between the 17th and the track day. there where lots of interested people, i want to 1 improve the website, 2get some people together to go around brick ln and other places people sell stolen bikes for some recon, 3 make a flier promoting the website, 4 some thing to discourage people buying stolen bikes, 5 put locks to the test, 6 some other interesting things and brain storm

I'm Irish. Totally not cool to say that because the guy was Irish its more likely that he's a thief. Ireland (according to the Economist) is the number one country in the world to live in. We dont come to London to rob bikes. It would be very strange if Irish people made up the bulk of bike thieves in London, its probably Londoners. Like Markyboy said, if you said the thief was black and therefore worthy of more suspicion than a white person it would be clear your racist. Anyway, if anyone sees an Irish man on a Fuji Track around new cross I didnt steal it - I know, shock horror!! Peace

Will all these Irish people moaning about me being 'racist' PLEASE chill the fuck out!

I said he looked like a traveller/gypsy/fairgrounder worker type and YES he happened to be Irish. Now it was not meant to offend any Irish on here it was just a point of reference as he looked grubby as fuck and like I said from my experience and my experience only, the majority of traveller/gypsy/fairground types I have come into contact with in my life(don't know about yours?) have been nothing but no-marks!

Call a police officer, what number would you call ... etc... but what I am trying to say is that the police are not the answer.

I just lost a long reply and i'm too angry to re type it.

Crux of it. The police SHOULD be the fucking answer. That they are not is perhaps more of a problem than bike thieves.

it was just a point of reference as he looked grubby as fuck

Sorry man I totally misunderstood! Irish is and always has been a point of reference for "grubby as fuck" sorry. I'm totally "chilled" about this. Why would I not be, after all its you that displayed overt racism on two occasions. Now, I WOULD be pretty angry if it was me being racist and not even knowing it. Then, like you, I would resort to swearing. Well done for standing up to the likes of that thief too! No really! Peace

i'm as grubby as fuck, but i'm cornish.

Sorry man I totally misunderstood! Irish is and always has been a point of reference for "grubby as fuck" sorry. I'm totally "chilled" about this. Why would I not be, after all its you that displayed overt racism on two occasions. Now, I WOULD be pretty angry if it was me being racist and not even knowing it. Then, like you, I would resort to swearing. Well done for standing up to the likes of that thief too! No really! Peace

Sarcy!

I can see you're going to milk this til the cows come home(excuse the pun) but I can't be arsed getting into a debate/row about it and having to justify my thoughts, comments, experiences to you.
Now run along, you not got any pegs to sell!?

Sorry man I totally misunderstood! Irish is and always has been a point of reference for "grubby as fuck" sorry. I'm totally "chilled" about this. Why would I not be, after all its you that displayed overt racism on two occasions. Now, I WOULD be pretty angry if it was me being racist and not even knowing it. Then, like you, I would resort to swearing. Well done for standing up to the likes of that thief too! No really! Peace

And FYI I'm from Liverpool so I've had all the jokes about thieves and toerags.

BACK, WATER, DUCK!

Sarcy!

I can see you're going to milk this til the cows come home(excuse the pun) but I can't be arsed getting into a debate/row about it and having to justify my thoughts, comments, experiences to you.
Now run along, you not got any pegs to sell!?

I had the good grace to pm you last night suggesting I may have overreacted to your original post and apologising. I figured you said something off the top of your head initially, had it pointed out to you and then you backtracked in subsequent posts. Fair enough, I thought. You chose not to acknowledge that.

Actually, it seems that now you've been clocked as a racist you wanna dish more of it out. I don't give a fuck about your experiences and you're quite right, don't try justifying your offensive and biggotted views on here, keep em to yourself.

As for selling pegs...you wanna try and be more offensive you little twat. Run along yourself pal.....it might be a good idea.