Latest news with #JaguarE-Pace
Daily Record
2 hours ago
- Daily Record
Couple steal back their £46k car after 'police fail to act'
The couple had tagged their £46k Jaguar with an Apple Airtag - after tracking it to a London street, they were told cops couldn't immediately help. A stunned couple were forced to steal back their own Jaguar after police told them they couldn't offer immediate help. Mia Forbes Pirie, 48, and partner Mark Simpson, 62, were shocked when they discovered their £46,000 Jaguar E-Pace had vanished from outside their Brook Green home In West London on Wednesday morning, reports the Mirror. The pair had fitted the SUV with an Apple Airtag, allowing them to trace it to a street in Chiswick by 10.30am. However, after calling 999 they were not able to confirm when police would investigate. With no help on the horizon, the furious couple decided to take matters into their own hands. Mark said he was "nervous" as he and Ms Forbes Pirie made the four-mile journey to the car's new location. They discovered the car abandoned on a quiet back street, with the carpets and interior stripped by thieves who had attempted to access its wiring. The car was also fitted with a 'ghost immobiliser - an ant-theft device that prevents the car from starting unless a specific sequence of buttons is pressed on the dashboard. Ther pair, both legal professionals, made the decision to install multiple layers of security after a previous car theft. The last AirTag signal had gone off outside their home at around 3.20am, suggesting the car was likely taken overnight. Neighbours then reported hearing unusual noises during the night. Mia and Mark believe the theft was "reasonably sophisticated" and likely involved a tow or flatbed truck. Posting to LinkedIn, Ms Forbes Pirie said it was "kind of fun" stealing back the car but questioned "why we should have had to do that". She added: "[Is] it 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?" Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Speaking to the Times, Ms Forbes Pirie said she thought the Met's inability to respond was down to a lack of resourcing. She said: "The police are under-resourced and it's a shame. "But if there aren't any consequences to people stealing cars or a lot of the other crimes where there aren't any consequences, then I don't really see what the deterrent is to stop people from doing it more." Official Met Police figures show there were 33,530 motor vehicle thefts in London in 2024 - a 1.6% rise on the previous year. Only 326 resulted in a 'positive outcome' such as a charge or caution, a rate of less than 1%.
Metro
9 hours ago
- Metro
Couple find their stolen car and take it back from thief after getting fed up
A couple whose car was stolen say they tracked it down and took it back after getting fed up with the police. Mia Forbes Pirie and Mark Simpson, from Brook Green, west London, realised their Jaguar E-Pace SUV was missing from its parking spot near their home last Tuesday. The car was fitted with a tracking device, which pinged later that morning at a location a few miles away in Chiswick. They called 999 but were informed that officers could not look into it for the time being and didn't know when they'd be able to, The Times reports. After suggesting they could find it themselves, they were told to call 101 if they succeeded – and only to ring 999 if 'police assistance was necessary at the vehicle's location'. Just over 50 minutes after their tracker pinged, they found the car – with its interior and carpets torn up by the thieves in an attempt to access its wiring – and hired a lorry to carry it back to their home. 'I have to confess … it was kind of fun stealing back our own car,' Ms Forbes Pirie said in a LinkedIn post . 'But it does make me wonder whether we should have had to do that. 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?' Police reportedly contacted the couple but have not sent a forensics team to look at the car nearly a week after the theft. Ms Forbes Pirie added: '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 are under-resourced and it's a shame. But if there aren't any consequences to people stealing cars or a lot of the other crimes where there aren't any consequences, then I don't really see what the deterrent is to stop people from doing it more.' The Metropolitan Police said: 'On Tuesday, 3 June at 10:06hrs, police were alerted to the theft of a vehicle on Sterndale Road, W14. More Trending '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. 'This investigation is ongoing and police are working with the victim. No arrests have been made at this stage.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Boy's alleged killer 'was flat Earth conspiracy theorist inspired by Elon Musk' MORE: Bungling ram raider used shopping basket to make off with loot after bag broke MORE: Two dead after gunman opens fire outside Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas
Daily Mirror
9 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Couple turn detective and steal back their own Jaguar after 'police fail to act'
The pair had fitted their Jaguar E-Pace, worth around £46,000, with an Apple AirTag, allowing them to trace it to a street in London - but after calling 999, they were told police couldn't immediately help A couple were forced to steal back their own Jaguar after police told them they couldn't offer immediate help. Mia Forbes Pirie and Mark Simpson discovered their car missing from outside their Brook Green home in West London on Wednesday morning. The pair had fitted the Jaguar E-Pace, worth around £46,000, with an Apple AirTag, allowing them to trace it to a street in Chiswick by 10.30am. But after calling 999, they were told police could not say when they might be able to investigate. With no help on the way, the couple took matters into their own hands. Simpson said he was "nervous" as he and Ms Forbes Pirie made the four-mile journey to the car 's new location. They found the vehicle abandoned on a quiet back street, with the carpets and interior stripped by thieves who had attempted to access its wiring. The car had also been fitted with a 'ghost immobiliser' - a security device that prevents the car from starting unless a specific sequence of buttons is pressed on the dashboard. Ms Forbes Pirie, 48, and Simpson, 62, both legal professionals, had installed multiple layers of security after a previous car theft. The last AirTag signal had pinged outside their home at around 3.20am, suggesting the car was likely taken overnight. Neighbours later reported hearing unusual noises during the night. The couple believe the theft was "reasonably sophisticated" and likely involved a tow or flatbed truck. Posting to LinkedIn, Ms Forbes Pirie said it was "kind of fun" stealing back the car but questioned "why we should have had to do that". She added: "[Is] it 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?" Speaking to the Times, Ms Forbes Pirie said she thought the Met's inability to respond was down to a lack of resourcing. She said: "The police are under-resourced and it's a shame. "But if there aren't any consequences to people stealing cars or a lot of the other crimes where there aren't any consequences, then I don't really see what the deterrent is to stop people from doing it more." Official Met Police figures show there were 33,530 motor vehicle thefts in London in 2024 - a 1.6% rise on the previous year. Only 326 resulted in a 'positive outcome' such as a charge or caution, a rate of less than 1%. Last May, George Nicolas had his £93,000 Maserati Levante stolen. Despite tracking its location, he said police told him to recover it himself due to lack of manpower. And in April this year, Ewan Valentine, 36, unknowingly spent over £20,000 buying back his own stolen Honda Civic Type R on an online listing, weeks after it was taken from his driveway.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Yahoo
'We got our stolen car back ourselves because police are too stretched to help'
A couple who "stole back" their car after it was taken by thieves have said they have "huge sympathy" for overstretched police. Mia Forbes Pirie, 48, and her husband Mark Simpson, 62, had their Jaguar stolen from outside their home in Brook Green, west London. An AirTag locator placed in their car last pinged on their road early last Wednesday morning, but after they noticed it was gone it later updated to a location about three miles away in Chiswick. Their Jaguar E-Pace was fitted with a ghost immobiliser - which requires a pin code - meaning they believe their vehicle was moved using a flat bed truck. They called police, who said they would send a patrol car to the location in Chiswick, but the couple didn't know how long that would take so decided to go themselves as it was only a nine-minute drive. They found the car on a back street, and the thieves had ripped out its interior and carpets in an effort to access its wiring so they could drive it. Pirie, a mediator, and Simpson, a barrister, had installed the extra security on their car after having a previous vehicle stolen. Pirie posted an image of the recovered vehicle on LinkedIn and said: "I have to confess... it was kind of fun stealing back our own car." She told Yahoo News on Monday she was "excited" to find the car as she had worried the AirTag on a keyring had been found by the thieves and discarded. Asked about retrieving the vehicle themselves, she said: "People seem to think it's fun or brave. I don't really think it's brave." She said the Metropolitan Police did not refuse to help but "were just a bit slow and we didn't know how long it would take". Asked about the response from the force, she said: "Given how stretched they are. I think it was okay. They were nice and polite. Obviously, in an ideal world they would have acted quicker. "But we both have huge sympathy with how stretched the police are on such low resources. We realise that they have to focus their limited resources on more serious crimes. "Obviously, there are really difficult decisions they have to make as to how they use the limited resources they have. I think on the whole they do a good job with very restricted resources." Pirie said the force told her they will send officers to their home on Tuesday to investigate further. Yahoo News has approached the Metropolitan Police for comment. The RAC advises that owners should always double check their car is actually locked even after using the key fob. This is because some thieves use signal jammers to intercept the signal between the fob and the car, leaving it unlocked, meaning a quick check of the doors is useful. A key fob box in the home, in which the keys are placed, will also deter a "relay attack", where criminals use a device to transfer a signal to a second box placed alongside the car, tricking the vehicle into perceiving the key to be there and unlocking it. But the signal cannot pass through metal, so placing the keys inside a fob box or a signal blocking wallet will stop the thieves. The RAC says motorists should park in well-lit areas that are covered by CCTV and should not display any belongings in the vehicle. It says most modern vehicles come with an immobiliser but that these should be fitted to older cars. Almost four out of five car thefts are unsolved, according to Home Office data published by the Liberal Democrats at the beginning of this year. It found that 24,837 car thefts in the three months up to June 2024 did not result in criminals being brought to justice. The area with the worst record was London, with the Metropolitan Police saying that 90% of all reported car thefts went unsolved, followed by South Yorkshire with 85%. Across England and Wales, only 2.8% of car theft cases result in someone being charged or summonsed.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Yahoo
Couple ‘steal back' their own Jaguar after police fail to help
A couple were forced to 'steal' back their own Jaguar after police told them they were too busy to help. Mia Forbes Pirie and Mark Simpson managed to track the vehicle to an address just four miles from their home in Brook Green, West London, using an Apple Airtag. However, the Metropolitan Police said it did not know when it would be able to investigate, despite being given the Jaguar E-Pace's exact location in Chiswick. After telling the force they would retrieve it themselves, the pair were told to ring 101 if successful, according to The Times. Ms Forbes Pirie, 48, and Mr Simpson, 62, first noticed the car – fitted with a ghost immobiliser and tracker – was missing on Wednesday morning. An update from the Airtag at 10.30am showed it to be just a 10-minute drive away. With no support coming from officers, the couple decided to investigate, before managing to retrieve the SUV themselves. In a post on her LinkedIn, Ms Forbes Pirie, a former solicitor, admitted it had been 'kind of fun' to 'steal back' their car after what they believe was a 'sophisticated' theft operation which may have involved a flat-bed lorry. However, she added: 'But it does make me wonder whether we should have had to do that. And not whether it's normal, but whether it's right that the police seem to have no interest in investigating. 'If there are no consequences, what is the incentive for people not to do more of this?' She said there was 'little incentive for thieves not to carry on doing what they are doing' without enforcement of the law. 'There are far worse things happening. And without better resourcing, we are all in a really difficult situation. And with this economy better resourcing isn't obvious,' she said. Ms Forbes Pirie said she understood the force was overwhelmed, but criticised it for not telling them to keep the car untouched for a forensic examination. '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,' she told the newspaper. '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 are under-resourced and it's a shame. But if there aren't any consequences to people stealing cars or a lot of other crimes where there aren't any consequences, then I don't really see what the deterrent is to stop people from doing it more.' The Metropolitan Police was contacted for comment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
