Covering Arbury, Ermine, Weston & Sandon Wards.

Areas such as Hitchin, Knebworth and Royston have suffered from nighttime burglaries. These chaps normally enter via a window or rear door or conservatory door and are after cash, credit cards ECT. If you leave you car keys lying about they will take these and your car. Vehicles left on drives attract them. Not far away from my area someone lost a car worth £95,000 due to the burglar finding cars keys left in a coat hung up on a peg near the front door. So please sleep with your keys!

We have had one dwelling burglary; the offenders entered the property by using a crowbar against a rear window. They stole jewellery and a mobile phone. The house was not alarmed.

We have no reports of any Farming/Industrial type crime that includes Burglaries and Thefts.

CD players from cars seem to be on the menu for thieves in surrounding areas, please take any serial numbers and if you can detach it from your vehicle when unattended.

There have been had any recorded incidents of illegal hare coursing in any of my areas for the last month, my records go back to 1998 and a zero has never before been achieved.

On the 29/12/04 my old friends on the Motorway saw three white transit vans parked on the Hard shoulder of the A1M. They stopped to offer assistance and as they pulled up they saw a number of chaps who had come from these vehicles coursing. The older police officer that is a very good friend of mine then used the situation as training

exercise to show the younger officer how many traffic offences can be found on these old vehicles.

Neither vehicle appeared to be insured so we took possession of all three vehicles.

I think that all the occupants and their dogs had to get the train back to London. 

House sitting is becoming popular. There are a couple of local people that will house sit and look after your pets’ aswell as your property.

We have had a couple of incidents of people approaching householders in a bid to sell items. The latest one was when a chap knocked on someone’s front door and told them they were part of a trade stand at an exhibition and was returning home and had a lot of good quality saucepans to sell at a very reasonable price. Some of these traders may be genuine but generally our advice would be not to entertain them and certainly never let them into your house.

Picture the scene: -

You are at home and there is a knock on the door. A respectable looking woman asks to use your phone (for any number of reasons). You allow her to use the phone, but being the suspicious type you stand with her as she makes the call. After several minutes the call ends, she leaves and everything seems OK. Or is it?

Before calling at your door a premium rate line with a charge rate of £50.00 per minute has been set up (this can cost as little as £150.00). The conversation she had on your phone was fictitious (probably talking to a recorded message). She had been on the phone for about 5 minutes, that has just cost you about £250.00 and the first you know about it is when you get your bill a month later.

To make matters worse, the feeling is she hasn’t committed a criminal offence as you have given her permission to use your phone!

Five incidents such as this have been reported in Luton in the last couple of weeks.

Would everyone reading this please pass it on to colleagues’ etc. This scam could cost people (especially the vulnerable) a lot of money.

 


Drink Spiking is the unlawful administration of a mind-altering substance into another persons drink. This includes alcohol.

Alcohol or additional alcohol has been unlawfully used to spike drinks in this manner for thousands of years. Neither is this ‘tactic’ solely confined to drink as it has also been used in food. Neither is the motive solely for sexual assault. The most common reasons for spiking drinks are:

·        Amusement

·        Sexual assault/rape

·        Theft/robbery

·        Kidnap / extortion

Nevertheless the offence committed at the very least is under the Offences Against the Persons Act of 1861 of ‘unlawfully and maliciously administering a poison or noxious thing so as to endanger life or inflict GBH’. Just because it is an old Act doesn’t mean that it’s out of date. On the contrary, remember the saying ‘if the wheel isn’t broke don’t fix it’. This offence fits drink spiking very well and the maximum penalty (and remember that some people do this is just for amusement) is 10 years imprisonment.

Of course the penalties if sexual assault, robbery or theft are involved are even higher.
Whilst this offence is mostly committed against women we wish to highlight that it is believed 11% of the victims are male. Only 1:5 rapes are reported each year. With over 900 drink spiking incidents reported nationally during 2002, that means that there were possibly 4,500 of these offences actually carried out. It’s hard to judge.

Not all crimes that have occurred appear on this newsletter as it is always up to the injured party if they wish them to be published.

My phone Number 01462425224 (mid to long term problems) 0845 33 00 222 (if you have suffered a crime or need Police within a couple of hours) 999 (for immediate response if you have just suffered a crime and for Coursing) PC 431 Paul Marina. North Herts Rural.

paul.marina@herts.pnn.police.uk.
chris.brabrook@herts.pnn.police.uk

Please click on the link below it will take you to couple of pages that displays a few people that we would like to have a chat to!

http://www.herts.police.uk/CCTV/gallery.htm

http://www.angliawestcrimestoppers.org.uk/

http://www.nfu.org.uk/

http://www.britishhorse.co.uk/

http://www.horsetackexchange.co.uk

http://trailerwatch.com/

http://www.stolenhorseregister.com/

Not all crimes that have occurred appear on this newsletter as it is always up to the injured party if they wish them to be published.

My phone Number 01462425224 (mid to long term problems) 0845 33 00 222 (if you have suffered a crime or need Police within a couple of hours) 999 (for immediate response if you have just suffered a crime and for Coursing) PC 431 Paul Marina. North Herts Rural.

paul.marina@herts.pnn.police.uk.
chris.brabrook@herts.pnn.police.uk