Someone Nicked My Number Plate!

[Clivey]

Evening PH, I'l try to keep this concise.

I came back from LM yesterday. Car is a 2004 Land Rover Discovery TD5 ES Premium in black.

• Left the WRR campsite @ 09:20 and the front number plate was still attached via screws (have a photo from the 2nd chicane on the Mulsanne to prove it).
• I was with the car all day except when we stopped at the Carrefour in Le Mans (south) itself. I parked nose in to a space and so didn't see the front of the car.
• When I subsequently stopped at a service station, I saw that my front number plate had gone AWOL (I walked around the front of the car as I got out).
• I initially thought it'd simply fallen off but have since realised (this afternoon) that my rear number plate has been tampered with and is loose.
• I now have a new front number plate (purchased at the first opportunity).
• I reported the above to the Police here as soon as I reapplied what had happened. I now have a marker on the car (don't mind being stopped as I've not done anything wrong and all docs are in order).

Just posting this on here in case anyone else has experienced anything similar. I reported it as I feel it's too much of a coincidence for my rear plate to "come loose" (it's stuck on) at the same time my front one (screwed on) disappears. Should I do anything else to ensure I don't become a "victim" of any other crimes?

[lowdrag]

Now you understand why under French law the plates have to be riveted to the car!

[Ian_C]

The sad thing is that the culprit is likely to be a fellow Brit

[Clivey]

Ian_C said:

The sad thing is that the culprit is likely to be a fellow Brit

They must've been pretty quick / sneaky. - We weren't at the Carrefour for that long (we had a couple of nooks and crannies left in the Disco to cram with plonk). I'm actually glad I didn't catch them as the situation would have then required one or more of the emergency services.

I hope the next time they do something like that, the owner 1. Catches them and 2. Takes the perp's eyes out with their car key.

[Rude-boy]

Clivey said:

They must've been pretty quick / sneaky. - We weren't at the Carrefour for that long (we had a couple of nooks and crannies left in the Disco to cram with plonk). I'm actually glad I didn't catch them as the situation would have then required one or more of the emergency services.

I hope the next time they do something like that, the owner 1. Catches them and 2. Takes the perp's eyes out with their car key.

Wait until you've had not just one, but two, sets of dust caps stolen in one week.

Not amused.

[Clivey]

Rude-boy said:

Wait until you've had not just one, but two, sets of dust caps stolen in one week.

Not amused.

I've previously had a car badly vandalised necessitating new panels, a respray etc. - I was 21 and the £400 excess was a lot of money to me then (luckily I didn't lose my No Claims Bonus). If I'd have known who did it, I can't guarantee that I'd be a free man now.

The number plate situation could be even worse - it depends on what they intend(ed) to use them for. The problem is that the legal system is a toothless tiger when these scrotes are involved.