Ducati stolen

It makes you query the value of "tip-offs" when this happens, though.
This wasn't a tip-off at all. It was the equivalent of some interfering
biddy saying: "I think those darkies next door are making bombs", and
Plod going in mob-handed.

 

<Three hearty cheers>

 

Injection now, apparently.

 

Good to see the Met topping the list.

 

<sigh> Think about it, before you get all flag waving.

 

But their own set of 'Rules' and procedures they are bound to should
prevent this.

What could have 'hypothetically' happened is these were disregarded as
some one knew better!

 

Meant to add: Listen carefully when Cameron describes the HRA as a
criminals charter and the police shouldn't have to contend with masses of
paperwork and red tape. Particularly in relation to recovering good law
abiding citizens' property etc.

Of course, if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear.

 

You're getting things muddled there. I wasn't referring to a tip-off in
the context of police intelligence (ha!) but to the potential effect of
the lock-up owner being notified that their premises were about to be
raided.

 

Always at the forefront of modern policing.

 

Any attempt you make to justify it is doomed - there is _no_ excuse
for this behaviour.

 

What point of "if it did contain stolen goods, the landlord might well
have another unit somewhere also containing stolen goods, and tipping
him off that there's a raid going on might be a really stupid idea" did
you fail to understand?

 

That depends on which flag they're waving and what they're
celebrating.

This is turning into some half decent entertainment, I'm having a
laugh at the different points of view and how others react to them.

 

Oh do **** off. Why the **** you're trying to stick up for incompetent
plod I have no idea, but as one who would normally try and avoid
plod-bashing for the sake of it, this one case is clearly so far over
the line of acceptable behaviour there can be no excuse for it
whatsoever.

 

I'm not. I said up there somewhere that there were two mistakes made -
one was carrying out the raid in the first place, which warrants
explanation, the other was taking a while to work out they'd cocked up.

Are you seriously suggesting that any time plod plan a raid they should
phone in advance, thereby surrendering any element of surprise?

 

Nicely side-stepped, but I'd still like to know:

(1) how the Police could determine who the garage was
being rented to (if rented at all) without asking
the owner of the property, in case they were
tipped off, and
(2) how the Police knew that the bike belonged to Steve
before they opened the garage up to find the bike

I'm genuinely interested in your opinion on the matter,
as I am obviously missing something important and am
therefore completely wrong.

I'd also be really interested in your solution to this
predicament, as you obviously have all the answers.

 

Where do they get the phone number ? IIRC they put a note through his
door. I'm not aware that the registered keepers phone number is part of
the VODS database. They would have the address. SteveH may not have a
land line, or be ex-directory. A phone call to the landlord might not be
appropriate, or unsuccessful.

It can be surprisingly difficult to get hold of people quickly in such
situations. I've had experience of it when dealing with house alarms.

Once they had gained entry by hacking the door open they had no choice
but to take the bike, stolen or not, to a (hopefully) secure place. That
is almost certainly part of their rules.

The primary failure was opening the wrong garage by error, or acting on
false information that this garage was housing a stolen bike.

The secondary failure was quickly explaining the situation to the bike
owner once it was clear that it wasn't stolen.

Clearly a cock up, but the scenario may be more complicated than appears
at first sight. Hopefully, the OP will give us the tale according to
plod once he has been told it.

Did I ever tell the story about having a DHSS investigator's car towed
away from outside their house?

--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Straw man.

 

If you say so, I CBA trying to persuade you otherwise.

 

I don't _need_ any answers. You seem to be supporting the idea that
the police may have been justified in their behaviour. They were not.

 

"To "attack a straw man" is to create the illusion of having refuted a
proposition by substituting a superficially similar proposition (the
"straw man"), and refuting it, without ever having actually refuted
the original position.[1][2]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man