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news
New Scotland Yard sign.PNGLondon mugging victim finds bike for sale online – but police fail to keep appointment to help retrieve it
A London man whose bike was stolen by a gang of muggers found it for sale online and arranged for police to help him retrieve it – but officers did not contact him on the date they had set to try and get it back.
Matthew Sparkes was robbed of his bike on Downham Way, Lewisham, on Sunday 28 November by a man in a car accompanied by four youths on electric scooters.
The gang had begun chasing him on Farmfield Road as he returned home from swimming in Beckenham
Sparkes described his Genesis Smithfield Borough bicycle, which had a Royal Mail box on the front, as a “very sentimental bike.”
Shortly after I was mugged my bike was advertised on Facebook, listed by mugger. With another account I arranged to buy & got address. Told police, and after 2 wks of chasing managed to get appointment for them to join me for pickup. They didn't turn up.https://t.co/YvI1An8eQm
— Matthew Sparkes (@Sparkes) December 20, 2021
On 20 December, he tweeted that he had found the bike for sale by one of the muggers on Facebook and that he arranged to buy it from them and that he had contacted police, who eventually agreed an appointment to go with him to pick the bike up – and then failed to keep the date.
He told the News Shopper: “My girlfriend contacted the seller with a made-up story about wanting to buy it, and we told the police that it was mine and that I recognised the seller as one of the muggers. We even passed on the address that he’d given us.
“I arranged a time to buy it and called the police that evening but they couldn’t attend as there were no officers free.
“Instead we made an appointment for a few days later (December 18 at 8pm) and the guy on the phone told me that the officers would call before the appointment and tell me what to do – either meet near the seller’s house or at my place.”
But he continued: “When the day and time rolled around to go buy the bike back there was no call from police and no officers turned up.
“I emailed the police contact I’d been speaking to the next day as she’d emailed asking for receipts for the bike and that sort of thing and she said she knew nothing about it as it was a different department.”
He said that he had never heard back from the Metropolitan Police officer whom he first reported the mugging to, and had “no idea” of whom he should be speaking to at the force.
He also said that when he tries to get updates via the non-emergency number 101, it takes “20 minutes every time” before he gets through.
“I still don’t know what happened, but it seems that the mugger is going to get away with selling my bike in broad daylight and I’ll never see it again,” he added.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- SimoninSpalding 11 min 9 sec ago
Just to add, is this why people think cyclists are odd, the fact that a brush can ellicit such strong views? 🤣
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I guess I'm odd as this time of year I'd normally do a 4 hour gravel ride on 1/2 bottle of water, a latte and a bacon roll....
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The system for elderly drivers in the UK is insane. Basically, once you hit 70 years old, you have to re-apply for your driving licence every three...
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Bit of googling gone wrong in the article - the JAT is the Junction Assessment Tool, the Joint Approval Team appears to be a coutner terrorism...
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Can't believe that child threw his bike on the floor at the end of that. Young people today have no respect... ;))
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6 comments
I actually found my stolen bike on the bumblebee proceeds of crime website. When I enquired why I hadn't been reunited with it I was told Sussex and Surrey police have different computer systems so couldn't see each others. When I sarcastically said what if it was a fabergé egg I was told "that's different, that's antiques squad". I provided police with the ebay id and they went to visit the fence at his mums house. They said that they would be removing white goods as they suspected they were the proceeds of crime. The whole family told the police to "take what you **cking want!". CPS said not enough evidence so I handed the evidence to the insurance company. They decided to not pursue it as the perpetrator was an unemployed smack head so they would never get any money from him. Priceless.
About 16 years ago, I got a call out of the blue from Walworth police station saying that they had recovered my bike, which had been stolen a few months earlier. It was a cheap mountain bike that I never used but looked new, so I thought I'd collect and sell it on. I was given a time and location to attend and identify the bike. They took me out the back of a police station where there were thousands of seized bikes un-reunited with owners. The two officers wheeled out what they thought was my bike. It was the same make, colour scheme etc but had rear suspension as well as front, which mine didn't have - this and some other details meant it clearly wasn't my bike. I told them it wasn't mine, to which one replied, "look carefully, it could be your bike."
There was an awkward interaction where they encouraged me to take it, as I might have been mistaken. All I could think was what if some lad had got a mountain bike for christmas, had it stolen and came in to report it the next day and I'd taken it. I suppose the police had thousands that they never match up and this would have crossed one off the stats but the whole thing felt wrong.
I have heard similar stories from colleagues. One had a cargo bike stolen - with a tracker and it was obviously in an estate in South London but the police were 'unable to assist'. A friend of mine had her motorbike stolen and she found it for sale. She notified the police but they prevaricated and didn't get involved in the end. The fact is they don't have the time. And they are a bit incompetent and I don't think they prioritise this sort of crime.
That's right, they don't have time. Tell them you're going round with some of the local rugby club to deal with the problem and some officers will magically be taken off paperwork duty and become available.
"You said you were going to turn up with a load of your mates?"
"You said you didn't have anyone available"
etc.
One wonders what they do prioritise: a while ago a friend of mine in Leeds awoke to find a burglar in her bedroom who had climbed in through an open window; when he saw she had woken up he scarpered, taking her iPhone and money from her dressing table. She informed the police, who took it seriously enough to come round and take a statement et cetera, but a few days later somebody had obviously turned the phone back on because it started showing on the Find My iPhone app. She could see exactly where it was, down to the individual house, so she informed the police immediately; they said they didn't have the manpower to send anyone round, and they couldn't prioritise it because "there's no guarantee it's actually the person who stole it who's got it now." If they're not prepared to prioritise hunting a person who is prepared to enter the women's bedrooms while they're asleep, clearly a stolen bicycle will be even smaller beer.
I suspect an element of it is, "Ah well, its just property crime and they can claim it on insurance, so no need to assign too much resources to solving it...".
Many police forces, I suspect, think the maximum resources that need to be assigned to a 'simple' property crime such as a bike are one secretarial assistant to enter the details and generate a crime reference number.