Son's Bike STOLEN From the Front of Our BTC Flat Today Post Reply

[LostInTranslation]

I was very upset to come home from work today to find that my son's bike was stolen from out in front of our flat. We live Between the Commons.

He's a student at Graveney School and had no school today due to teacher training. So he rang me at work this morning asking if he could go out and meet his friends in Tooting. He wanted to take his bike but as he had a puncture in his back tire, I asked that he leave the bike home.

I came home on my lunch hour at about 1.45pm to do some chores and noticed that the bike was gone so figured that, as teenagers do, he decided to ignore my suggestion that it was a bad idea to take it.

I came home at 6pm to find that my son was in but the bike was not...

I asked where the bike was and he replied that it should be outside as he didn't take it because I asked him not to.

We have a planter bike lock and my neighbour, who is a keen cyclist, has been safely securing her bike to it for more than 6 months. I had only just finally relented and agreed to let my son keep his bike outside LAST WEEK.

I am a single parent who is working all the hours god sends to keep this RENTED roof over our heads and food in our refrigerator. We don't take holidays, we don't eat out, we have no car and we won't turn on the central heating until we can see our breath in this flat. I don't drink or smoke. I am in my 40's, university educated, have never been unemployed yet have never had it as hard as these past few years since the recession hit.

There are, as we all know, cheaper places to live than Between the Commons, but I settled here 8 years ago when I first moved to London to undertake a full time degree at university as a (very) mature student. For those of you that have lived here as long or longer than I, you'll be able to confirm the fact that the cost associated with living here in Battersea have skyrocketed during that time.

Despite achieving a 2:1 at a top university, I have struggled to find work that pays a living wage. Ironically, I thought that education would help pave the road for a better future. I wanted to show my son by example that it is never too late to change your life for the better. It was unfortunate that my graduation coincided with the start of the recession. This has had a severe impact on my career options.

I'm really sorry to digress so much from the original subject of my post but I am completely shaken by today's events. I know it isn't as serious a crime as some of the mothers on NVN have experienced but for me and my son, it is a major violation and something that will have long term repercussions for us.

I work my a** off from the minute I wake up to the minute I go to sleep just to try and stay in this flat, in this neighbourhood. It has nothing to do with the 'prestige' of living here but everything to do with my desire for my son to have as much stability as possible. As a single woman living alone with a child, safety was a concern. And as someone who grew up near the ocean with loads of trees and greenery around, I also wanted to be in a place where we I felt we could breathe. This is how I chose to live here.

This is my home. This is my community. I live here. I work here.

I'm not so naive to think that everyone that lives here is wealthy - though there is, clearly, a lot of money here. I just wish that the people who stole from us, didn't make the assumption that we could afford to lose that bike. I'd like to be zen about it and say that I hope that they needed that bike more than we do - but after a week spent scraping by on our last few pounds before payday, I somehow doubt they do.

I have reported this to the police using the 101 number and am waiting for them to call to file the official report and get a crime reference number. I keep all receipts and records for everything I purchase. I have the frame number of the bike but unfortunately never registered it with the police.

We had the seat of the bike inside the flat and it is a very distinctive looking bike which will now be ridden with no seat or a mis-matched one. I have a photo of the seat which I might add to this post tomorrow.

As all the other posts have mentioned, please don't be lulled into a false sense of security living here. Yes, it is a LOT safer than many places in London BUT, it is an area known for it's wealth so just keep your wits about you and your belongings secure.

[juliantenniscoach]

Yep goes with the territory. There is simply a huge number of bike thefts in London. Mine was stolen from our side return in April and despite being as rare as hen's teeth never to be seen again.

I wish you well. Please post the details here and I'll repost on to other sites.

[mummy_dani]

I'm really sorry to hear your sons bike was stolen. We have a shed in our front 'garden' where we keep our bikes and it was broken into on Monday night and the bikes stolen. The thieves tried to steal a neighbours bikes but were obviously disturbed as they left 2 bikes halfway out of their shed. The police came to take finger prints from my sons trike (which they left at another neighbours front door but no prints found. They did say that no matter how many locks you have (we had 3) the thieves will still get the bikes ... They carry battery operated angle grinders with them. The police also said that if shed door locks are too big or the doors are alarmed, the thieves will unhinge the doors or take the roof off. They just don't care that we have to work hard for what we buy. A lot of the bikes are sold on eBay or in second hand bike shops so it may be worth looking online for your bike. It's such a pain but it seems bikes will have to stay in the house as BTC is being targeted. Tell the police about the increase and they'll get neighbourhood watch involved and flag up the area as an increasing crime hotspot (which is what we were told).

[konagirl]

Really sorry to hear about your son's bike.

On a practical level it might be worth looking at

http://bikeshd.co.uk/

which shows photos of all bikes that are being sold through Gumtree, Ebay etc. It can be a way to track down stolen bikes, especially if the bike is so distinctive.

I hope this helps.

Catherine

[juliantenniscoach]

top tip thanks

[mitch74]

Hi

I feel for you, have had many bikes stolen over the years and recently had the wheels off my bike stolen as they couldnt manage to get lock off the bike
broad daylight in back garden in balham
they just dont care

the reason for reply is put an ad on here or freecycle or ****/mumsnet

someone may have a bike knocking about that they may give or sell very cheaply
may help your son out in the meantime

[Balham3838]

I feel for you - my husband's bike was stolen from the back of our house this weekend, and it is so infuriating. We have a young baby so the last thing we need is the expense of replacing it.

The police told my husband to go to one of their auction sales as they often sell bikes that have been confiscated or found if they can't trace the original owner. Not ideal but at least the thieves won't be benefiting from the sale.....

[theessentialtouch]

I really feel for you. It is such a hideous crime that people think they can take from others as they wish. They have no idea the impact their actions have on our lives.

Both my son's scooters were taken from outside our house one morning. I left them out thinking we'd be going out again in an hour, but by the time we did go outside again they were gone!! Silly for being lazy and not putting them in the shed, but then again, why should I have to lock their scooters up at all??

Some of the suggestions on here are very good. Just put a 'wanted' add in Freecycle as you never know who might have a bike knocking about that they are thinking of throwing out.

[Battersea Mummy]

So sorry to hear that your son's bike was stolen. Mine and my husband's bikes were stolen a couple of years ago from our back garden after the thieves scaled an eight feet wall and wire fence. Not only did they take the bikes but they also managed to brake one of our garden chairs, as must have used it to stand on to get back out of our garden, and smashed a mirror that was in the garden. I was six months pregnant at the time and felt really violated that someone had climbed into our garden, and also began questioning whether I wanted to remain living in this area.

Our safer neighbourhood police did come round, and advised us to look on gumtree or ebay for our bikes and even said that they'd check at the big Sunday market by the nine elms sainsburys. I was really encouraged by this and set about looking on gumtree and immediately found our bikes for sale in Clapham. I called the police, as they had advised us to do so rather than calling the bike advertiser, but they said they needed the frame numbers before they could do anything, and although my husband had his I didn't have mine. However, I did still have the bike receipt so thought I'd call the shop that I'd bought it from to see if they kept a record of frame numbers. They didn't but advised me to call the bike manufacturer. The bike manufacturer was really helpful and spent some time checking their records and did manage to work out the exact bike that had been sent to the bike shop which I'd purchased, and therefore my frame number. I was so over joyed that I could do my bit against the fight against crime. But when I called the police I was told that I'd now have to call the people that had placed the ad on gumtree, set up an appointment and go and double check that the frame numbers definitely matched what we had. Like that was not going to raise suspicion amongst the people selling our bikes? I pointed out to the policeman that with me being six months pregnant going round to the thieves house to check out the bikes was also not a practical or very safe idea. The police though said there was nothing more they could do unless we did this.

It just seemed that every time I did what the police asked for they then said something else was needed to be done. So, maybe just not worth the effort of trying to hunt down stolen bikes. Having said that a friend's husband was so aggrieved when his bike was stolen and saw it advertised that he went round to the adertise's house and simply rode off on his bike! Not practical for a pregnant lady and my husband was sensibly worried about any repercussions as they might have remembered where we live!

A positive to come out of this is that one of my neighbour's and I have set up a neighbourhood watch for our road, but the irony of that is that we both had plants from our window boxes taken during the summer!

I hope you can get your son a new bike fairly cheaply, but be cautious of buying one off of gumtree as who knows where they have come from.

[metoo]

Hurrah for your friend's husband Battersea Mummy!
I read an article in the Independent about bike theft/resales. Like JTC the writer's bike was very distinctive. He went to Brick Lane where bikes are often sold - found his bike, punched the seller!! and promptly rode off on his bike! Although it all sounded scary I thought 'good on yer!'

[MGMidget]

A friend had her bike stolen and tracked it down on eBay. Someone she knew made a winning bid and they tried to get the police to pose as the buyer to catch the thieves and retrieve the bike. However the police were far too slow to act and didn't do anything until it was too late. End result was bike not recovered and disappeared from eBay. Unfortunately you can't rely on the police if your bike is stolen. No wonder Battersea is experiencing so many bike thefts when the thieves have nothing to worry about. The only way to get it back is to track it down and go get it yourself but that could be dangerous unless you are planning to just pay for the bike again! It is fairly unlikely the thieves are local. The thieves who took my friend's bike lived several kilometres away.

Hence, I would agree that the best solution is to try and get a free or low cost second hand cycle.

So sorry it has happened to you.