Crime: 24 October 2012
First, I have
mentioned the clocks going back on the 28th and the approach
of darker evenings. I have attached a press release relating to
Operation Lioness which is connected.
Second –
An advice sheet from the Borough re Hallowe’en is also attached.
As we have had some car index plates
stolen, I have a reminder from PCSO Liz Davidson about the arrangement
she has with a local garage re index plate replacement security screws:
Good morning Jeffery,
When I opened up
the police computer this morning, I saw there were two jobs relating the
‘theft of number plates’ in Maidenhead.
Maybe it’s
worth putting out a note again reminding them that if they take their
new number plates to the Littlewick Green Service Station, they will fit
them for free, using tamper proof screws.
IT’S GOT TO
SAVE PEOPLE ALL THE INCONVENIENCE THAT IT CAUSES AFTERWARDS
Someone in the
area is busy at taking plates!!
Kind regards
Liz
I would also add – we have had 2
exhaust systems stolen from cars – which of course includes the
Catalytic Converts – which will cost £1,500 each, to replace !!! if
you see anyone under a car on the public highway, or anyone working
under a car that you feel might be suspicious – it only takes a few
minutes – please phone it through !
CRIME:
BISHAM, COOKHAM, HURLEY, THE WALTHAMS,
LITTLEWICK GREEN & KNOWL HILL:
Neighbourhood Page:
23/10 Tuesday 7.30 p.m. / 8 p.m. Pub,
The Pound, Cookham X 2. 1. Car rear passenger window
smashed. Briefcase containing laptop stolen. 2. Car rear
windscreen smashed – IPOD, laptops X 2, IPAD, suitcase and contents
stolen.
22/10 – 23/10 Monday 7.30 p.m.
/ Tuesday 7.30 a.m. Mare Lane, Beenham Heath, Shurlock Row. Shed
break. Side panel removed – nothing appears to have been stolen.
BOYN HILL, COX GREEN & WOODLANDS
PARK:
Neighbourhood Page:
23/10 Tuesday 8 a.m. / 4.45 p.m. Boyn
Hill Avenue. Car rear windscreen smashed – nothing stolen.
22/10 – 23/10 Monday 6 p.m. /
Tuesday 7 a.m. Shop, kings Grove. Thieves have accessed
the rear of the property pulling up the metal cladding and reaching
through to remove property. They also made a hole in a brick wall
– bathroom mirror with lighting stolen but left behind. Were
they disturbed ? Did you hear anything ?
22/10 Monday 2.30 a.m. / 8 a.m. Cox
Green Lane. Exhaust system, including a catalytic converter stolen
from a car. Did anyone see anything ? Anyone
working under a car – it was simply unbolted, which would only take a
few minutes, but will cost £1,500 to replace !!!
RIVERSIDE & BELMONT:
Neighbourhood Page:
22/10 – 23/10 Monday 9 p.m. /
Tuesday 5.30 p.m. Hambleden Walk. Front index plate
stolen from a car.
INNER MAIDENHEAD:
Neighbourhood Page:
21/10 – 22/10 Sunday 2 p.m. /
Monday noon. Church York Road. Burglary via forced fire door. Full
search – games console, projectors X 2 (plus ceiling mounting), safe
and cash stolen.
OLDFIELD & BRAY:
Neighbourhood Page:
23/10 Tuesday midnight / 6.45 a.m. Harvest
Hill Road. Front and rear index plates stolen from a car.
21/10 – 22/10 Sunday 4 p.m. /
Monday 7.30 a.m. Phoenix Court, Norrey’s Drive. Exhaust
system, including a catalytic converter stolen from a car. That is
2 so far this week ! Please keep your eyes open for anyone working
under a car on the public highway and let us know on 101.
PINKNEYS GREEN & FURZE PLATT:
Neighbourhood Page:
NO CRIME TO
REPORT.
MEMBERS
COMMENTS:
A good result
from the Borough !
Club Class
holidays wound up thanks to team work by trading standards and the
Insolvency Service
Seven
connected companies, all of which mis-sold membership of a holiday
scheme to the public, have been wound up in the public interest by the
High Court in London, following action brought by the government’s
Insolvency Service with the assistance of the Royal Borough’s trading
standards team.
The
companies, the most well-known being one-time Maidenhead-based Club
Class Concierge Ltd, together with its sister company Bridge View
Consultants and five connected companies that were all registered in the
Seychelles, claimed to be able to help victims of timeshare rogues take
legal action to get their money back.
But this was
just a ploy to lure people to face-to-face meetings which turned into
high pressure sales pitches lasting up to six hours.
Victims were
told they had a one-off opportunity to offload the unwanted timeshare
weeks in part exchange for Club Class membership costing between £7,000
and £15,000.
Part of the
incentive was the promise they would be released from paying spiralling
annual maintenance fees and could also get their money back in a ‘cash
back’ scheme after three years.
However, Club
Class merely handed the timeshares back to the companies that owned the
resorts, which then continued to demand fees from the owners.
The
borough’s trading standards team received close to 100 complaints
about Club Class over the course of the last four years and provided
information that formed an integral part of the Insolvency Service’s
case.
In addition,
trading standards managed to negotiate nearly £40,000 worth of refunds
to duped customers during the course of the investigation.
Cllr Phill
Bicknell, cabinet member for highways, transport and the environment,
said: “This is great news. The borough’s trading standards team
worked tremendously hard to provide the Insolvency Service with the
information it needed to put an end to this con, while at the same time
securing significant refunds for some of the out-of-pocket victims.
“Trading
standards will continue to fight to protect consumers from this kind of
unscrupulous trading.”
David Hill of
the Insolvency Service said: “These companies were set up with the aim
of duping consumers, who in some cases had already suffered from unfair
timeshare deals, by using slick patter for what was, in reality, the
selling of an illusion.”
FINALLY – WE
– BECAUSE WE ARE NICE PEOPLE CAN BE CAUGHT OFF GUARD, I HAVE HAD THIS
IN. IT SAYS SOMETHING GOOD ABOUT US THAT WE CAN BE CAUGHT IN THIS
WAY !
Dear Jeff,
I must be the
world’s most gullible person!
Yesterday
evening about 5.20 p.m., I was walking from West Street, to St Luke’s
Road (Maidenhead), through Kidwell’s Park and a young couple, who had
been sitting on one of the benches, got up and the girl immediately
burst into tears. The man, (white, in his mid 20’s, about
5’10) asked if I was from Maidenhead. The girl, (could have been
the same age to about 30, also white, with long dark hair, wearing red
coat) showed me a cutting from the front page of last week’s
Advertiser, about the little boy who was seriously ill. If I had
taken in the whole story I would have known the child was out of
hospital, but the girl said she had to get to Reading, then corrected
herself – still in floods of tears and sobbing – saying it was the
John Radcliffe in Oxford and they needed some money to get there. She
flung her arms round me and I could smell alcohol on her breath. The
man showed me an ID card, which I could not read and they carried on
with their sob story, saying that she was the toddler’s mother and his
father, was at the Police Station. She desperately needed money, to
get to the hospital. I put my hand in my pocket as I knew I had
some loose change and gave her £1.30 and went on my way. However,
I noticed another young lady was also coming along the path. As
the couple were watching me, I did not stay, but waited at the end of
the alley leading to St Luke’s Rd. I asked that lady if she had
seen them and if the girl was still crying and had she asked for money.
She said no, they were laughing and joking !
I decided to go
home and get my mobile – wishing I had taken more notice of what they
were wearing etc. However before I got back to the entrance of the
alley-way, I passed two other ladies who had come from that direction
and asked them if the couple were in the park. They replied yes
and said they were arguing and fighting. However, by the time I
re-entered the park, they had disappeared and I could not see them
anywhere.
Many apologies
for not contacting you sooner, so they could be stopped before conning
others.
I have learned
my lesson – not to be taken in by a sob story.
Thank you for
you and your team’s regular alerts. Most of which are common
sense – except in my case!
Best wishes
Valerie
We should all
be compassionate to the needs of others and we have to make a value
judgement in each case. It might have been true.
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