Caravan stolen from Newent, Gloucs,

[Derkbox]

Lunar Delta RI 2017 stolen from site in Newent in the early hours of 11/12/20.  2 AL-KO wheel locks, AL-KO hitch lock, sargent stinger alarm and monitored phantom tracker system all failed to foil the thieves who took the van from site at 1:20 am. The only alert was a battery down call at 1:27, the last tracker control communication was 1:58 when the van was still shown as on site, so presumably left site shortly after this time. Any sightings or comments appreciated.

[DerbyClubman]

8 hours ago, Derkbox said:

Lunar Delta RI 2017 . . .  2 AL-KO wheel locks, AL-KO hitch lock, sargent stinger alarm and monitored phantom tracker system all failed to foil the thieves . . .

 Sorry to hear of your loss - with that much security there wasn't anything more you could have done.

 

I was just wondering what might have made the thieves go for your particular van - were their other vans there that might have had less security and what sort of site was it ?

[macafee2]

sorry to hear of your loss of caravan, how did they bypass the wheel locks?

 

macafee2

[KnausCol]

My sympathy for you is only exceeded by my anger and disgust with the scum who have nicked your van. Sounds like you did all you could to prevent it so count yourself very unlucky. I hope you get a fair deal from your insurance. If it's not recovered the trouble you might face in the current climate is finding a suitable replacement.

[Derkbox]

Thanks for your responses. I wish I knew how the security was bypassed and would love to know why the tracker could be deactivated seemingly so easily and to such an extent that an absence of signalling does not raise an alarm at the monitoring centre. I did not discover that the van was gone until I arrived to recharge the leisure battery,  assuming that to be the problem, a loss of around 10 hours! Tracker still showed the van to be onsite.

I guess that the reason they chose our van is that it is twin axle, the extra size being desirable in certain groups. 

[Wildwood]

Sorry to hear of your loss. It does seem to have been well protected but sometimes nothing works.

Alert thieves may use a scanner to find a tracker so although they do cause the majority of cases where they are fitted to be recovered they are not fool proof.

[Mickyjb]

Derkbox, ,

 

Very sorry to hear of your loss, you were probably victims of the same thieves who stole an identical caravan (belonging to friends of ours) from the same storage-site we use in August 2019.

 

I attach (verbatim) the e-mail the rest of us received the next day: -

 

'Dear Bay Hirer

I want you to just be aware that we had a break in last night (between 2.41 am - 3.04 am), and thankfully NON of your vehicles were damaged or stolen.  The criminals had obviously been planning this break in as they came onto our neighbours farm land, travelled about 1/2 mile and smashed through our and their perimeter gate between a hedge, drive across our middle field (horses were in the field), open our middle gate and drive between the solar park and our indoor storage building, cut through our gate locks and enter, the outdoor storage area.  They then went to a double axle caravan in the covered storage area, and steal this caravan. They then drove out the way they came in!  For light, they used a drone which travelled in front of the vehicle and once at the selected caravan the drone lights were turned off.  Fortunately at night we leave our lights on from the indoor storage building which enabled our cameras to see how they did it.  The Police were informed and an incident report has been raised.  

 

Clearly these criminals have well planned this operation.  From the two entry points on our property, I have now dug large deep trenches with high mounds in front of our perimeter gates on the adjoining land, so no vehicle can get through now, unless it is a tank!!

 

I am sorry to notify you all about this incident, but I felt you should all be aware and also know that we have immediately tried to mitigate the situation happening again.  The use of drones is becoming a real problem to land owners as they can hover over land and take recordings, without our permission.  The one bit of pleasure I have on this whole unfortunate situation is that when the criminals went off our property through the boundary gate, they hit with their vehicle or the stolen caravan, a gate post at such force it shattered the 8 " post, so it must have caused a lot of damage to their vehicle or the caravan.

 

The traveller community like double axle caravans so please be aware, and if your caravan is double axle, I ask that you double check that you are locking your caravan up securely and in accordance with your insurance requirements.

 

I know that the AL-KO wheel locks were gas-torched off (I've seen the remains - very neat job!) and the tracker disabled at the site. The hitch lock went with the caravan.

 

Our friends now have a single-axle caravan as he reasoned that only one axle made it less attractive to thieves and the insurance paid for the substitution of a Coachman VIP575 for the Lunar.  Also he has had the tracker installed aftermarket in a different position from 'standard'.

 

Again I'm sorry to hear of the theft and know that the above doesn't make your loss any easier to bear. 

 

Mick

 

 

[Derkbox]

Thanks Mick.

The security gate at the site was chained and padlocked, these were cut away and taken away. We have searched around the site and can find no trace of the tracker or any security devices, the gravel where the van stood is undisturbed, no sign of any metal cutting or forcing. The only sign of disturbance is a fresh tyres tracks on the grass towards the gate, it seems they even shut the gate behind them!

[richardandros]

My commiserations, Derek box.  I think I know how you must feel after spending a lot of my working life dealing with scum such as these.  It's just a pity they can't be dealt with in the way in which they were a few years ago.

As you can see from my signature, I also have a van which will be high on the shopping list for these types and indeed, a couple of weeks ago, I had a worrying experience.

This summer, we have had a gang of workers block-paving drives on our development and I have to say they have done a very good job and everyone is very satisfied - despite the extortionate prices they were demanding.  However, I did a bit of 'research' and discovered that their 'office' was an unofficial travellers site just outside Beverley - resplendent with three or four brand new and very expensive mobile homes and a collection of mainly German twin axle vans.

So - two weeks ago whilst walking the dog not far from home, I see head honcho driving around in his double-cab pick up with two of his mates.  He recognised me, stopped and had the following conversation:

"Thought any more about having your drive done - I could do it for a very good price"."

No thank you, I've decided not to do it.

"What about the caravan then?"

What do you mean - somewhat taken aback.

"Nice caravan, that.  I'm looking for one like that"

I bet you are (I thought to myself) and then went home to check that the twin wheel locks, hitch lock, E&P self-levelling rams and CCTV around the house were  all in situ and working!

We live in a very low crime area with a street light right outside our house and have the benefit of being overlooked by our neighbours, but it is still worrying knowing the lengths these types will go to, knowing they will undoubtedly get away with it.