Traded my VW Golf GTI for a second hand Jaguar XF-R in hope that it’ll better deter any would-be burglars. Alas, I had my car broken into over the weekend, first time this has ever happened to me. The burglar managed to disable my car’s alarm and made off with £250-300 worth of coins that I usually stash in the closed centre console of my car for street parking. He/she left my brand new £500 Garmin GPS unmolested, and a parcel containing a NOS 24teeth flat foot Omega crown for Speedmasters worth £400 was left sealed and intact.


Here are some pictures of the crime scene.





I found a bloody print and blood stains where my coins were once kept.








Subsequently I rang up the non emergency police hotline number and spoke to a lady officer. By the time I was done with giving my particulars, a queue was forming behind me. Apparently 4-5 other people’s car were burglarised as well. Some lost their work laptops, work phones etc. Here’s an excerpt from my phone conversation..


Me: Would anybody be coming down to investigate?


She: 5000 cars are broken into every weekend in the UK in total. We can’t attend to every case.


Me: Can you send a team to dust for prints?


She: We don’t do that for non serious crimes. Sometimes we don’t even do that for murders, as testing can get very expensive. Furthermore, most car burglars use their long sleeve or socks to cover their hands from leaving any fingerprints.


Me: As a police officer would you agree that every crime is unique?


She: Yes I agree.


Me: well in this unique case, they left prints and blood in my car.


She: well we are not coming down to test it.


Me: didn’t Theresa May pledge that she would increase the policing budget?


She: no comment sir.


Me: I really do need somebody to come down to investigate. I’m not asking for me, but for the other people who had irreplaceable stuff stolen from them. And my car is the only one with prints and blood, which may lead you to the perpetrators. Also, some of the other people had the wires around their steering wheel column severed and their cars cannot start.


She: hopefully somebody will be down within the week.


Me: this is a really urgent matter as 4-5 cars were burglarised. Not just one.


She: I’ve seen 6-7 cars burglarised at one car park. I personally had my own personal vehicle carjacked and taken away from my home last week. None of my police officer colleagues came down to investigate either.


Me: so what recourse do I have? Can I pay for the fingerprint and blood testing?


She: I wish we could take your money but we unfortunately we can’t. Please wait for a phone call later today with your crime incident number.




Guess what! She never called back!




Feeling unsafe and rather vulnerable. I decided to have the broken window replaced the very next day, and told the window fitter to use gloves so as to not touch the side panels where there were visible fingerprints.







With the new window fitted the next day of the crime. I decided that enough was enough and drove to the nearest police station. I went in and stated my intentions and concerns. Alas, after an hour of back and forth, I was finally told that no incident report was ever filed! The lady officer/operator screwed me over again!



Eventually I had my report filed and made sure to repeat myself countless of times that there is blood in my car and that should warrant DNA/blood testing done. Exhausted and out of sorts, I was then told to wait for a possible phone call from the CSI team only if they are interested in my case. I was told that the chances were 50/50. Was also told that the phone call could come the next day or a week or even a month later. I then started complaining and said it’s disgusting to be driving around with blood in my car for weeks or a month. They finally politely asked me to leave the station.



Luckily a phone call came the next day morning! 8:00am! And here are some pics!







Car was shifted to a newer more secure car park.




Dusting for fingerprints.




Breaking out the blood testing kit.




Reactive test came back positive for blood and DNA!






Was finally told that IF there was a match in the database for the DNA/Blood found, they would phone me and ask a series of questions. Such as “does Mr. ? have access to your vehicle?”, “do you know Mr. ?” Etc.


Was also told that it is very difficult to find a person guilty of burglary without catching him in the act, as he could simply say that the car was already broken into. And all he did was to lean into the car, accidentally hurting his hand on broken glass, but ultimately did not take anything from said vehicle.




Advice to other drivers in UK or elsewhere:



1) keep ziplock bags in your car to keep your coins. And every time you exit the car, keep those coins in your trunk/boot of the car.


2) remove all GPS and any valuables and keep it in the boot/trunk. Boot/Trunk is the safest!



3) Invest in burglar proof/ bomb grade security film for your windows. This would deter the would-be burglar, as they usually give up after 2-3mins. Also, motion activated in-car cameras should help!



4) DO NOT visit Liverpool, UK.

 

4) DO NOT visit Liverpool, UK.
4) DO NOT visit Liverpool, UK.
4) DO NOT visit Liverpool, UK.

 

Sorry Baron for your losses and inconvenience. Has happened to me a couple of times over the decades and it is certainly is a violation of one’s well being and private space. Glad you are physically unharmed.

Never knew the Beatles hometown was such a high crime area.

 

Thanks for the well wishes my friend. Money and window is replaceable. NOS 24teeth Speedmaster crowns not so much! Also spent an hour wiping down the interior with anti bacterial wet wipes after the CSI team left.


I’ve also been looking into bomb-grade security film for windows. Which means they apply a clear film on top of your window that will stop any would-be burglars and even potentially stopping a bomb from damaging your windows. However this are only for the sides windows, not the front and rear. Front and rear need to be left alone, as in the event of an emergency, you would need to kick out the front or back to escape.

 

Thank you my friend. I try to keep most of my watches in a bank safe! That’s the safest in my opinion!

 

Drug addict... Looking for money for a fix.

 

Terrible drug problem in the UK! Not much being done about it. Out of the £250 to £300 I originally had, they left me with a princely sum of £2.60.

 

At least you are safe!

This happened to my friend's car back in Adelaide, South Australia, Elizabeth.... a suburb that is quite notorious. I accompanied her to the police station, and the policeman informed my friend to hurry up fill up the incident report as he's knocking off work in 5 minutes.

I'm glad Singapore's police force does try to make every case count, even though they may or may not solve/find the culprit. That said, Singapore's a small country so it's definitely easier to find the culprit with its extensive network.

 

Thanks buddy! Yes I’ve heard that Adelaide is rife with crime as well.



Singapore has many CCTVs! Land of the CCTVs I might add. It’s very hard to commit a crime and successfully escape. This is also due to the police : citizen ratio!

 

Whenever I'm overseas, I always took Singapore's safety for granted.

Sometimes, money and time will be wasted, but always remember and take comfort that you are safe and well. That's the most important aspect

 

I think all your visible electronic plugs and wires are best disconnected and hidden when exiting your car.

This type of crime does not occur, very often anymore, in New York.

Could have been far worse. At first glance, I thought the evil doers made off with your steering wheel.

 

I am sorry to see they have taken your steering wheel too, what a bummer

 

Good God1 How much street parking do you do?!
Had my car broken into in Melbourne some time back, they took about $10 worth of loose change & a $10 pullover. Left my $200 sunglasses. The broken quarter vent window cost $250 to replace though.

Clear prints left all over the glass & dash, a perfect print on the door handle, so we drove to the Russell St cop shop but the Coppers refused to do anything, iirc, they said pretty much the same thing; nothing will come of it, it's not a serious crime, it's Saturday & we're short handed.

 

I had no idea the shortage of officers in certain parts of the world. Best not to take mine for granted...

 

Applaud your persistence at getting the crime properly investigated. Bureaucrats are counting on folks like you giving up and going away.

Please update us on whether or not any leads are pursued!

PS Sorry about your window & all the headaches w/ this.

 

Blimey @sgW! What a fakkin mess! Those little bits of glass seem to get everywhere. Sorry to hear that you've gone through all this. It sounds as if dealing with 'the old bill' (police for anyone outside Britain) was more stressful than the actual crime. Unfortunately they include car thieving in the school curriculum in Liverpool. It's a career option!


Some parts of London, (My home town) are just as bad, which is why I live down on the South coast in Dorset now! I've not heard of one crime in this village in the 5 years I've been here. I think one of the local kids broke a glass panel in our bus shelter about 7 years ago and the village still talk about it.

It's funny how people all over the world think that the home of The Beatles must be a great place. The first thing the Beatles did, when they got hold of some money, was to buy big houses in Surrey. None of them stayed in Liverpool.

 

Unfortunately this goes for every town and city in the UK. Liverpool does tend to have a bad reputation but it’s deservedly so. I live around 30 miles away and when I visit I leave my car at home and go by train. It’s a real shame as the city centre is a lovely historic place.

 

Any man seen wearing suit in Liverpool is usually addressed as the accused

 

5). Replace car windows by 100% shockproof safety glass