Latest news with #JaguarE-Pace
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
‘My jag got stolen and the police did nothing – here's how I got it back'
On television, a crime scene is usually theatrical: chalk outlines, flashing sirens and anxious bystanders whispering behind yellow tape. In reality, (well, my reality anyway) a crime scene is like any other Tuesday morning in leafy west London – just with another car sitting in the space where our Jaguar E-Pace was supposed to be. For a moment, I doubted myself. Had I parked it around the corner? I called my husband Mark who was working (he is a litigator while I am a former lawyer-turned-mediator and coach) to see if he had moved it overnight. When he confirmed he hadn't, we were utterly baffled. This wasn't the first car that had vanished from that spot: about seven years ago our Fiat Abarth had been stolen and, concerned about that, Mark had installed a second immobiliser in the Jaguar on top of the one it came with. This required the driver to press a series of buttons to turn it on – I often had trouble with it so couldn't imagine how a criminal would be able to bypass it. Then we remembered the AirTag. If it was still working, it might show us where it was. Mark opened the app. To his surprise, the car was less than three miles away from our house in Brook Green – on a quiet street in Chiswick called Gladstone Road. It dawned on us that it had indeed been stolen, but that it hadn't gone far. Unsure of what to do, Mark did a quick Google search and then called 999. The police were very busy but said they might send a patrol car at some point – if they did, they would let us know. It was a very uncertain response. Worried that we only had a short window to get the car back before it was gone forever, and desperate to avoid the nightmare of insurance claims, I persuaded Mark that we could investigate for ourselves. We set off in my little Volkswagen Polo, heading to Chiswick. On the nine-minute drive, our natural personalities came out. Mark was cautious and tense: he thinks everything through quite carefully, whereas I am more gung-ho. He grew up in Kent, while I'm a born-and-bred Londoner and have always found it to be an incredibly safe place. I simply couldn't believe that I would be hurt in broad daylight in this city I have always called home. Mark was also worried that people might be hanging around the car while I felt that anyone who steals cars wouldn't want to show their face and so would be unlikely to confront us. In retrospect, I wonder if – as a man – Mark thought he needed to protect me, whereas I didn't feel that responsibility. I just wanted to get the car back as quickly as possible. My biggest fear was that we would find the AirTag abandoned on the tarmac – so much of modern life is about being disappointed, that this seemed the most likely scenario. So when we turned onto the road and saw the Jaguar sitting there, I was delighted. And maybe a little triumphant that our adventure had concluded so well. We inspected the car. Outside, it was untouched, but inside it was a bit of a mess: ripped up carpets and air vents torn apart. Clearly, someone had tried to bypass the immobiliser but failed. Their efforts however, meant the car was now locked; even though we had the keys in our hands, there was no way of getting it home. We stood on the empty street, which had a small block of council flats on one side, for a few minutes before deciding to go back to our house and sort out the problem from there. A couple of hours later, after proving ownership, the Jaguar was delivered on a flatbed by a tow-truck company. Over time, we started piecing together what had happened. The AirTag showed that the car had been in Brook Green at 3.20am, and the neighbours said they had heard a commotion about an hour or two after that, which they had assumed was the binmen coming early, but which must have been the criminals loading the car onto a flatbed. The police had asked us to keep them informed, so we called 101 and told them what had happened. As for fixing the car up, that has been relatively easy – we had to sort out the immobiliser and then put the carpets and the air vent back as they were. The incident occurred last Tuesday and by the weekend, we were driving it to the countryside. I felt slightly icky as we set off, knowing that strangers had been inside, but mostly I was okay. They weren't too disrespectful, and I was grateful for that. What hadn't been made clear was that by fixing it up and then using it, we were destroying evidence. When forensics examined the car a week after the incident, they said there was no hope of finding any usable DNA as far too many people handled it in the interim. Yes, it would have been inconvenient not to use it, but we would have done so if it meant they could have gathered some evidence. Not telling us this was an oversight on the police's part and one I found very frustrating. Still, I am keen not to place too much blame on them. Blame feels good – but it is too simplistic. An officer once told me that it is normal to have 20 urgent calls on a peak night and only two to three people on duty. It is so easy to say that the increase in crime is all the police's fault – but the reality is more complex. The system is broken: there is too much focus on locking people up, but putting them in prison just teaches them how to become better criminals. If you rehabilitate them, then they become better members of society. Sadly, this is not popular with voters - but my hope is that public opinion can change. Mostly, I worry about deterrents. If there are none, crimes like these will only proliferate. The people who stole my car were sophisticated criminals: they knew how to hack an immobiliser and had access to a flatbed. We need to ask whether it is good for society that the police force lacks the funding to investigate them properly – and think seriously about what the consequences of not doing so might be. As told to Melissa Twigg 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.
Vancouver Sun
10 hours ago
- Vancouver Sun
Lawyer couple 'steal back' their stolen car after tracking it with Apple AirTag
A couple in London, U.K., stole back their car after they experienced a lack of police support in recovering the stolen vehicle, the wife said in a post on LinkedIn . '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. Couple Travel to Chiswick to Steal Back Their Own Car Jaguar E-Pace was taken from near their home in Brook Green '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?' Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 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 on 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. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
Calgary Herald
10 hours ago
- Automotive
- Calgary Herald
Lawyer couple 'steal back' their stolen car after tracking it with Apple AirTag
Article content A couple in London, U.K., stole back their car after they experienced a lack of police support in recovering the stolen vehicle, the wife said in a post on LinkedIn. Article content 'I have to confess … it was kind of fun stealing back our own car… ,' Mia Forbes Pirie, 48, wrote. Article content Article content 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. Article content Couple Travel to Chiswick to Steal Back Their Own Car Jaguar E-Pace was taken from near their home in Brook Green — (@ChiswickW4) June 10, 2025 Article content '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?' Article content Article content 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. Article content The couple noticed the car missing a week ago, with the AirTag locating it to their road on 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. Article content Article content Article content 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. Article content '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. Article content 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.'
Time of India
13 hours ago
- Time of India
Stolen car? This couple didn't wait for the cops—they got it back themselves, and how!
In an incident that has raised questions about policing priorities in the UK, a west London couple managed to recover their stolen car using tracking technology, without any assistance from law enforcement. What followed wasn't just an act of determination, but also a strong reminder of the growing gap between crime and response. Stolen Jaguar, no police, and a digital trail Mia Forbes Pirie and her partner Mark Simpson were shocked earlier this month when their Jaguar E-Pace was stolen from right outside their home in Brook Green, London. Luckily, the car had a ghost immobiliser and an Apple AirTag hidden inside, which sent them a location update soon after the theft. They quickly informed the police, hoping for quick action. But things didn't go as expected. 'Officers are too busy,' couple told When the couple called emergency services, they were told no officers were available. According to Pirie, the 999 operator said they couldn't say when– or even if– police would come, as reported by India Today. Worried and unsure of what to do next, Pirie and Simpson decided to take matters into their own hands. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Seniors Born 1939-1969 Receive 9 Benefits This Month If They Ask Bettys Perks Learn More Undo Taking matters into their own hands Using the AirTag location, the couple drove to Chiswick, a nearby area, where they found their car parked on a quiet street. The vehicle had been partially dismantled– the interior was stripped, wires were exposed, and carpets had been pulled up– but it hadn't been driven away. So, they took it back. 'It was kind of fun stealing back our own car,' Pirie later wrote in a LinkedIn post describing the entire experience. She also raised an important point: 'It makes me wonder 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 flatbed truck… if there are no consequences, what's the incentive for people not to do more of this?' LinkedIn post: Police followed up only after recovery The couple's interaction with the police came only after they had retrieved the vehicle. A forensic team is now expected to inspect the car, though Pirie said the delay might have affected any possible evidence. 'Lots of people have touched the car. It wouldn't have cost very much for them to tell us not to touch anything. That's the one criticism I have,' she told The Times, as quoted by India Today. 'The police are under-resourced, and it's a shame' While the situation was resolved thanks to technology and swift personal action, Pirie pointed to a larger issue– the lack of capacity in the police force. 'The police are under-resourced, and it's a shame,' she said. 'But if there aren't any consequences of people stealing cars or other crimes, then I don't really see what the deterrent is.' Her statement highlights a growing frustration among citizens who feel they're being left to deal with serious crimes on their own. Thumb image credit: LinkedIn/ Mia Forbes Pirie
India Today
20 hours ago
- India Today
UK couple reclaims stolen car from thieves after police say they're too busy
A UK-based couple was in for a shock earlier this month when their Jaguar E-Pace was stolen from outside their home in Brook Green, west London. Fortunately, the car was fitted with both a ghost immobiliser and an AirTag tracker, two security measures that would prove crucial when the police, they said, simply didn't show spotting their vehicle's new location in Chiswick via the AirTag, Mia Forbes Pirie and her partner Mark Simpson alerted the police. But the response wasn't exactly swift. The 999 operator reportedly told them that officers were too busy and couldn't confirm when, or if, they'd of waiting, Pirie and Simpson drove to the location themselves. They found the car dumped on a quiet backstreet, stripped inside with carpets pulled up and wiring exposed. But it was still there. And they took it back. Pirie later shared their experience in a candid LinkedIn post, saying, 'It was kind of fun stealing back our own car.' But fun aside, she raised a sharper point: should they really have had to do this alone?In her words, 'It makes me wonder 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's the incentive for people not to do more of this?'Take a look at the post here: advertisementThe Metropolitan Police got in touch only after the couple recovered the car. According to reports, a forensic team is now expected to examine it for prints, though Pirie pointed out the delay might've compromised any useful evidence. 'Lots of people have touched the car. It wouldn't have cost very much for them to tell us not to touch anything. That's the one criticism I have,' she told The concern, however, isn't just personal. 'The police are under-resourced, and it's a shame,' she said, adding, 'But if there aren't any consequences of people stealing cars or other crimes, then I don't really see what the deterrent is.'Pirie's message was clear: citizens shouldn't have to double as detectives. While their determination paid off, their story also called attention to a wider problem, one that demands more than just ghost immobilisers and AirTags to Reel
