Monday 24th May 2004

The Case of the Stolen Plate

Stolen £50,000 Registration Number Reunited with Rightful owner after 8 Years!

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Worcester based Auto Identity Registration Auctions Limited (AIRAL), had a surprise call yesterday when someone called the company demanding to know the seller's details for the registration number PET 3R. He claimed that it had been stolen along with his Ford Cortina in Boreham Wood in 1996!

“I thought it was a prank at first and we obviously did not divulge our clients details ” said Stuart Allen, Director of AIRAL. “I then telephoned Hampshire Police who confirmed the story and stated that following police raids by West Midlands Police a man had been arrested, two stolen vehicles and a V778 Retention Certificate for the registration number PET 3R had been recovered ”.

“It appears that the original owner has been battling the DVLA for many years to get the registration reinstated, and was then shocked and amazed to see his registration number advertised as one of our auction entries! It is not clear what had happened to the Cortina since 1996 but it appears to have been ‘scrapped’ recently. The police referred the matter to the CPS who felt there was insufficient evidence to charge the individual for the theft of the registration ”.

The plate has been withdrawn from the sale but there are still over 900 cherished Numbers up for auction on the 16th and 17th June 2004 at Worcester RFC Conference Centre, Worcester.

A full list of entries can be viewed at www.airal.co.uk or call 01905 748773 for further details.

AIRAL will also be exhibiting at PistonFest .

[Lutz]

50.000 for the "privilege" to have "Peter" written on your car...sad....I dont want to bore you with the hungry third world or similar rubbish...but imagine all the horsepower and handlig that could be had for that amount(provided you are willing to have a mere-mortal reg number)

>>> Edited by Lutz on Monday 24th May 20:01

[rodsmith]

But if you have all that and your name is Peter...

[emmcoupe]

How about the fact that someone owned it and some other c**t stole it???

no different to any other act of theft in my eyes...

[mjgerrard]

If you've got £50k+ to chuck away on a number plate why dont you save your money and just print one, for about £20, with whatever the f**k you want on it. I'm sure the fines imposed would never amount to the figure saved especialy if you made one with A1 or something on it. For an added bonus you wouldnt have to care about scameras any more.

>> Edited by mjgerrard on Tuesday 25th May 14:11

[JohnL]

mjgerrard said:

If you've got £50k+ to chuck away on a number plate why dont you save your money and just print one, for about £20, with whatever the f**k you want on it. I'm sure the fines imposed would never amount to the figure saved especialy if you made one with A1 or something on it. For an added bonus you wouldnt have to care about scameras any more.

[gnomesmith]

How can you steal a reg number? It started as the property of the DVLA and remains so. I suppose there could be a valid case of fraud or deception on behalf of the licenced user but it all gets a little academic and I'd imagine it would be difficult to prove any injurious loss.

Will DVLA be seeking to take action, I doubt it.

[Gobber Man]

rodsmith said:

But if you have all that and your name is Peter...

I can only assume the thief was some tw*t called Peter or his tw*t friend called Peter. Either way wouldn't it be a bit easy to track down ? Do you know any sad prat with the number plate Peter ? If so call the cops.
A much better use of police time than catching motorists going 6 mines over the speed limit.