In article ,
michael adams wrote:

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
Mate has just had his brand new camper van stolen from outside his house.
Luckily, it has a tracker, and they located it about 3 miles away. Lots of
damage done to the electrics and so on. But they obviously managed to
drive it away, without the keys. So much for immobilisers.

Would a crook lock thingie or wheel clamp have made any difference in
these days of battery angle grinders?

That might well depend on whether there were any more
vulnerable camper vans, or equivalent targets around for
the thieves to steal instead.

I'd guess the fact it is only a month or so old was a factor.

That then depends on how wide an area the thieves case
before deciding on which one to nick. Your mate's might
have been identified as a target days or weeks ago as a
result of the thieves scanning a wide area.

They took it to a spot some three miles away. Police said they left there
to see if it was being tracked. If it was still there a couple of days
later, they'd move it on.

Although from the damage you describe, and the fact that
it was recovered might suggest its not only canper vans
they target

Anything they can sell on, I'd guess. Unlikely to be for their own use.

If the van's left standing for any length of time then its
advisable to disconnect the battery in any case. So no
driving away. Although a visible deterrent clamp or
crooklock would help. They'd probably think twice about
ransacking a van outside somebodies house (potentially) because
of the noise and their being caught bang to rights
inside the van.

The very fact it was parked close by meant the theft was discovered
quickly. Noticed it missing from the bedroom window at about midnight.

--
Is the hardness of the butter proportional to the softness of the bread?*

Dave Plowman London SW
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