stolen gear found - advice needed

[scrumpymike]

Great result mate! Does make you wonder about the stuff you see in these cash-converter shops though...

[Bassmonkey]

Epilogue........had a call from the police today. They interviewed the suspect (that being the one who sold the gear to Cash Converters) Guess what?,,,,he claimed, as expected, he bought the stuff from a Car Boot Sale. No way to prove otherwise so that's the end of their investigation. Now I completely appreciate it's not the crime of the century, I know there are way more important things for them to be spending time and resources on but despite being amazed and overjoyed having miraculously recovered most of my stolen kit, I can't help but feel a bit aggrieved that the thief got away scot free and there is clearly not a single deterrent to stop anyone doing this. Genuinely not meant as a slur on he police, I have been super impressed with them, nor an expectation that this should have gone further, simply a grim realisation that scrotes steal, cheat etc with little chance of penalty while most of us work hard and wouldn't dream of doing likewise. Still hope something dreadful happens to the thieving scum though.

[ivansc]

One reason why tool boxes are generally welded to the bed of American artisan's pickup trucks, equipped with a mega strong padlock and have a sticker saying "protected by Smith and Wesson" on them.

Seems to work on building sites over there....


And of course, all you guys who were bad mouthing Cash Converters and similar now know what happens when they buy stolen stuff, even inadvertently.
The owner gets his gear back, the scrote gets away scot free and CC lose the money they paid for the gear.

Edited May 30, 2017 by ivansc

[natjag]

I work with an Elvis act. One of his suits went missing after a show. It turned up a few weeks later on ebay. The police retrieved it, and the seller claimed he'd purchased it at a car boot sale. That seems to be the get out for them.

[Angelus]

Would it be possible to start BPLA ( Bass and Player Licence Authority ) to keep a note of of make, model and serial numbers? Even just a thread here you can post pictures on, as they'll be date stamped, so you can prove when you owned them? Obviously it becomes outdated if people don't keep a track of what the sell, but might be a start point and give others the chance to cross reference any items for sale in Cash Converters.

[bazzbass]

glad you got your gear back, and understand about not being happy that the perp got away with it.

BUT, if it was a car that was stolen you would never see it again unless it is burnt out, and he may actually have bought it in good faith from the robber.

[Grangur]

[quote name='bazztard' timestamp='1496217231' post='3309554']
glad you got your gear back, and understand about not being happy that the perp got away with it.

BUT, if it was a car that was stolen you would never see it again unless it is burnt out, and he may actually have bought it in good faith from the robber.
[/quote]
True. I had a colleague who had a 5 series stollen. It was recovered with the engine burned out and suspension and brakes wrecked. He got nothing on the insurance because the police reported it was recovered in the same condition as it was lost.

If the police had checked the place of the crime for finger prints it could have changed the story. But, as said, it's not the crime of the century so they'd rather close the case.

[Burns-bass]

I once bought a David Eden amp from a shop in Bristol. I tried to sell it a few months later and had a lovely chap come around (with 3 of his friends - which at the time seemed odd). He came in and nervously checked over the amp. About 30 minutes later a copper turned up and told me that the amp had been stolen and that he was taking it as evidence until I could prove where I had bought it from. Had the receipt in the book, so handed it over and that was the last time I ever saw the amp. Such is life.

Another occasion someone bought a Peavey TNT130 amp from me using a couple of fake £20 notes.

Perhaps my strangest ever deal was someone who came to buy a small Marshall combo. He agree to come at 10, but turned up at 12 with 2 other dodgy looking guys. Talked for about an hour and then left. All very odd, but he paid cash for the amp. Turns out he'd committed an armed robbery a little earlier in the day and tried to use me and my bandmates as an alibi. Very, very weird.

[stingrayPete1977]

There's a Thin Lizzy and a Judas priest pun there surely?