Lawyer couple 'steal back' their stolen car after tracking it with Apple AirTag
'I have to confess … it was kind of fun stealing back our own car… ,' Mia Forbes Pirie, 48, wrote.
An international mediator, facilitator and coach, Forbes Pirie referred to her husband Mark Simpson, 62, as her partner in 'un-crime.' The husband, as per his LinkedIn profile, is a commercial barrister in Greater London.
'But it does make me wonder whether we should have had to do that,' she continued in the LinkedIn post. 'And not whether it's normal, but whether it's right that the police seem to have no interest in investigating what is likely to have been a reasonably sophisticated operation involving a flat bed truck… if there are no consequences, what is the incentive for people not to do more of this?'
Their car, a Jaguar and reportedly worth over $85,000, was stolen from near their residence in Brook Green, West London. According to The Times, the lawyer couple, after contacting the police, were told that the Metropolitan Police reportedly wouldn't be able to investigate. 'Instead, the couple suggested they could find the vehicle themselves and were told to call 101 if they found it,' The Independent reports.
The couple noticed the car missing a week ago, with the AirTag locating it to their road, in what may have been a 'cooling-off period' for the stolen car that one Canadian car owner was made aware of in May last year.
CAA Quebec spokesperson and former police commander André Durocher told CTV News that after a vehicle is stolen, thieves will often leave the stolen vehicle nearby.
'They want to see if there's going to be police surveillance to check the vehicle, if there was a tag [to track it], so it's very standard procedure for car theft rings to function that way,' Durocher told CTV.
The AirTag for the car in London later pinged from Chiswick, which is where the couple eventually found it with interior and carpets ripped off.
The Metropolitan Police, in a statement to The Independent, confirmed that they were alerted to a car theft on June 3. 'Officers spoke to the victim, who shared his intention to recover the vehicle himself. An Apple AirTag was inside, allowing the victim to view its location and trace it. The victim was reminded by officers to contact police again as needed or if police assistance was necessary at the vehicle's location. At 11:23hrs the victim confirmed with police that he had found the vehicle and that it was being recovered by a truck back to the victim's home address.'
'The police are under-resourced and it's a shame,' The Independent reports Forbes Pirie as saying. 'Since we've found it, lots of people have touched the car and the police say that they're going to look underneath the carpets and at the fuse box to see if there are prints there. But it wouldn't have cost very much for them to tell us not to touch anything. That's the one criticism I have.'
The police said the investigation is ongoing and that no arrests have been made at this stage.
Canada has become a very scary place to own a vehicle right now
Instead of getting their stolen car back, Canadian couple received $156 parking ticket
Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
27 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Fox News hosts were determined to help Trump stay in office after 2020 election, legal filing says
The 2020 presidential election is history, but a legal dispute over Fox News' reporting on President Trump's false claims of voter fraud is heating up. A motion for summary judgment by voting equipment company Smartmatic filed Tuesday in New York Supreme Court laid out in detail how phony allegations that it manipulated votes to swing the election to Joe Biden were amplified on Fox News. The motion also described how the Fox News Media hosts who are defendants in the suit — the late Lou Dobbs, Jeanine Pirro and Maria Bartiromo of Fox Business — were allegedly committed to helping Trump prove his fraud theories so he could remain in office. 'I work so hard for the President and the party,' Pirro wrote in a text to Ronna McDaniel, then chair of the Republican National Committee. Pirro left Fox News in May to become U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Smartmatic is suing Fox News for $2.7 billion in damages, claiming that the network's airing of the false statements hurt the London-based company's ability to expand its business in the U.S. Fox News settled a similar suit from Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million in 2023. The motion alleged that on-air hosts repeated the fraud claims even though executives and producers were told they were false. The Fox News research department, known as the 'Brainroom,' allegedly informed network producers that Smartmatic's role in the 2020 election was limited to Los Angeles County and that the company's software was not used in Dominion voting machines, another false claim made on the air. Fox News maintains the network's reporting on President Trump's false claims were newsworthy and protected by the 1st Amendment. But part of the company's legal strategy has been focused on minimizing the damage claims. Fox News has asserted that any problems Smartmatic has experienced in attracting new business are rooted not in its reporting but in the federal investigation into the company's activities with overseas governments. Last year, Smartmatic's founder, Roger Alejandro Piñate Martinez, and two other company officials were indicted by the U.S. attorney's office and charged with bribing Philippine officials in order to get voting machine contracts in the country in 2016. While the Trump camp's assertions that the election was fixed were not believed throughout Fox News and parent company Fox Corp., the conservative-leaning network gave continued to give them oxygen to keep its audience tuned in, the motion alleged. The motion described a 'pivot' that occurred on Nov. 8, 2020, when then-Fox News Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan asked Fox News Media Chief Executive Suzanne Scott to address the decline in the network's ratings after Biden was declared the winner of the election. The network also looked at research to evaluate why viewers were leaving. 'The conclusion reached based on performance analytics: give the audience more election fraud,' the court document stated. Such thinking, the filing said, permeated the company, already in a panic over losing viewers to right-leaning network Newsmax. The upstart outlet saw a ratings surge after Biden's win due to its unwavering support of Trump's claims. 'Think about how incredible our ratings would be if Fox went ALL in on STOP THE STEAL,' Fox News host Jesse Watters said in a text to his colleague Greg Gutfeld. Throughout November and December 2020, the three hosts named in the suit, Dobbs, Pirro and Bartiromo, repeatedly featured Trump's attorneys Rudolph Giuliani and Sidney Powell as guests. They spread the falsehoods that Smartmatic software was used in Dominion voting machines and altered millions of votes. Smartmatic's work in Los Angeles during the 2020 election was meant to be an entry point for the company to expand its domestic business. The company's defamation suit claims that Fox News obliterated those efforts by presenting the false fraud claims. But Fox News believes that issues with Smartmatic's $282-million contract with Los Angeles County could help advance its case. On Aug. 1, federal prosecutors filing a legal brief alleging that taxpayer funds from the county went into a slush fund held by a shell company to help pay for its illegal activities. Federal prosecutors handling the case involving Smartmatic's business in the Philippines said they plan to detail similar alleged schemes out of L.A. County and Venezuela to show that the bribery fits a larger pattern. Fox News attorneys have filed a brief asking for county records that they believe will help bolster their case. The network is also expected to try to get the Smartmatic indictments in front of the court to raise doubts about the company's reputation. A Smartmatic representative said Fox News' records request is a diversion tactic. 'Fox lies and when caught they lie again to distract,' a Smartmatic representative said in a statement. 'Fox's latest filing is just another attempt to divert attention from its long-standing campaign of falsehoods and defamation against Smartmatic.' The company added that it abided with the law in Los Angeles County and 'every jurisdiction where we operate.' Smartmatic's Tuesday court filing also included information that contradicted public statements Fox News made at the time. The document alleged that Fox News fired political analyst Chris Stirewalt and longtime Washington bureau executives Bill Sammon for their involvement in calling the state of Arizona for Biden on election night. The early call of the close result in the state upset the Trump camp and alienated his supporters. At the time, Fox News said Stirewalt departed as part of a reorganization and Sammon retired. But the motion said Rupert Murdoch himself signed off on the decision to sever Stirewalt and Sammon from the company in an effort to assuage angry viewers who defected. The motion cited a communication from Dana Perino, co-host of Fox News show 'The Five,' describing a phone call with Stirewalt after his dismissal. 'I explained to him — you were right, you didn't cave, and you got fired for doing the right thing,' Perino said. Both Sammon and Stirewalt now work in the Washington bureau of NewsNation, the cable news network owned by Nexstar Media Group.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Lucy Connolly set to be released from prison following jail term for hate tweet
Lucy Connolly, who was jailed for inciting racial hatred in the aftermath of the Southport terror attack, is reportedly set to be released from prison. Connolly, the wife of Conservative councillor Raymond Connolly, will be released on Thursday after being sentenced last year to 31 months in custody, the Telegraph reported. She had posted on X on the day of the murder of three children by Axel Rudakubana in Southport: 'Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the bastards for all I care… if that makes me racist so be it.' She pleaded guilty to inciting racial hatred by publishing and distributing 'threatening or abusive' written material on X and was jailed at Birmingham Crown Court in October last year. Her sentence has been criticised as being too harsh, but Sir Keir Starmer defended it earlier this year. The Prime Minister was asked in May about Connolly's case after her Court of Appeal application against her jail term was dismissed. Asked during Prime Minister's Questions whether her imprisonment was an 'efficient or fair use' of prison, Sir Keir said: 'Sentencing is a matter for our courts, and I celebrate the fact that we have independent courts in this country. 'I am strongly in favour of free speech, we've had free speech in this country for a very long time and we protect it fiercely. 'But I am equally against incitement to violence against other people. I will always support the action taken by our police and courts to keep our streets and people safe.' Connolly's post was viewed 310,000 times in three-and-a-half hours before she deleted it. Lord Young of Acton, founder and director of the Free Speech Union, said: 'The fact that Lucy Connolly has spent more than a year in prison for a single tweet that she quickly deleted and apologised for is a national scandal, particularly when Labour MPs, councillors and anti-racism campaigners who've said and done much worse have avoided jail. 'The same latitude they enjoyed should have been granted to Lucy.'
CNN
2 hours ago
- CNN
Assistant attorney general arrested outside Newport restaurant
Assistant attorney general arrested outside Newport restaurant Newport police released bodycam footage of Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Hogan Flanagan and her friend being arrested in Rhode Island. The officers responded to a call from a restaurant regarding an "unwanted party." Flanagan has been charged with willful trespass, and her friend is being charged with disorderly conduct, willful trespass, and resisting arrest. 02:30 - Source: CNN Vertical Trending Now 15 videos Assistant attorney general arrested outside Newport restaurant Newport police released bodycam footage of Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Hogan Flanagan and her friend being arrested in Rhode Island. The officers responded to a call from a restaurant regarding an "unwanted party." Flanagan has been charged with willful trespass, and her friend is being charged with disorderly conduct, willful trespass, and resisting arrest. 02:30 - Source: CNN 'The Last of Us' actor reflects on loss of her mom Emmy-nominated actress Kaitlyn Dever, who stars on HBO's 'The Last of Us,' reflects on her mother's memory after she lost a 14-year battle to breast cancer. 01:34 - Source: CNN Vikings face backlash after two male cheerleaders join team Napoleon Jinnies, one the NFL's first male cheerleaders, joined CNN's Boris Sanchez to discuss the backlash the Minnesota Vikings are facing after the team announced this year's cheer squad which included two male cheerleaders. Since the announcement, the two cheerleaders have been receiving hateful comments online. 01:49 - Source: CNN Gas line explosion sends debris flying Three firefighters were injured Tuesday following an explosion caused by a ruptured gas line in Wilmington, North Carolina, fire officials told CNN. 00:58 - Source: CNN Federal immigration agents open fire on a family's vehicle Federal immigration agents opened fire on a family's vehicle during a targeted operation in San Bernardino, California. The Department of Homeland Security says that it was an act of self-defense after a man "struck two CBP officers with his vehicle." 01:45 - Source: CNN Nationwide demonstrations across Israel demanding hostage deal A planned nationwide strike in Israel on Sunday saw hundreds of thousands take part to call on the government to bring the remaining hostages in Gaza home. CNN's Oren Liebermann reports from Tel Aviv. 01:23 - Source: CNN Zines not hashtags: Gen-Z's new protest playbook Gen-Z activists are rethinking protest tools. Opting to go offline over concerns of misinformation and surveillance, zines offer another way to organize. For the latest "The Assignment" podcast episode, CNN's Audie Cornish speaks with artist and organizer Kennedy McDaniel about what's prompting the shift from hashtag activism. 01:51 - Source: CNN Canadian government orders end to Air Canada strike After more than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants went on strike seeking wage increases and paid compensation for work when planes are on the ground, the Canada Industrial Relations Board has ordered them to return to work according to an announcement by Canadian Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu. 01:05 - Source: CNN Spike Lee's Reaction to Trump's Smithsonian Orders 'To roll back the clock' says Director Spike Lee to CNN's Victor Blackwell in response to President Donald Trump's Smithsonian orders. 01:14 - Source: CNN Russian media reacts positively to Trump-Putin Summit Russian state TV gave a positive coverage of the outcome of the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska, celebrating the handshake between the two leaders. Russian officials also stated that the meeting resulted in progress on sanctions and opened up room for future negotiations. CNN's Fred Pleitgen reports. 01:23 - Source: CNN London's toxic trash 'volcano' Arnolds Field landfill on Launders Lane in east London is better known to locals as the 'Rainham volcano.' The site was used as an illegal dump for years and now, every summer, it bursts into flames, sending plumes of acrid smoke over nearby homes, parks and schools. CNN's Laura Paddison speaks to residents who feel abandoned and trapped. 02:05 - Source: CNN Hong Kong twin pandas turn one Giant panda twins Jia Jia and De De celebrated their first birthdays in Hong Kong on Friday. The cubs were born last August to Ying Ying, who became the oldest giant panda on record to give birth. 00:43 - Source: CNN Football player's emotional press conference sparks conversation University of Nebraska freshman punter, Archie Wilson, left his home in Australia to play for the Cornhuskers. During a press conference, a reporter asked Wilson how he was doing being so far away from his family and his emotional reaction sparked a conversation around masculinity. Writer and philosopher Ryan Holiday joined CNN's Boris Sanchez to discuss. 01:29 - Source: CNN McDonald's Japan causes Pokémon food waste frenzy Piles of untouched Happy Meals littered sidewalks outside McDonald's restaurants in Japan over the weekend, as frenzied customers scrambled to buy limited-edition sets with Pokémon cards. CNN International Correspondent Hanako Montgomery has the story. 00:55 - Source: CNN Taylor Swift unveils album details on boyfriend Travis Kelce's podcast Taylor Swift announced her 12th studio album 'The Life of a Showgirl' will be released on October 3rd. Swift made an appearance on the podcast 'New Heights,' hosted by her boyfriend Travis Kelce and his brother Jason Kelce where they discussed the album 00:48 - Source: CNN
