POLICE have reopened an investigation into the theft of a motorbike after its owner was told the case had been dropped a month later due to lack of resources.
Steven Farmer was working at the Max Spielmann photo print outlet at the Asda superstore in Whitley, Coventry, when his Honda scooter was stolen from outside the store on November 5.
The 32-year-old immediately reported the incident to Coventry Police. He passed on information from a witness outside the store who recognised the teenagers the street and knew where they lived. Steven also asked security staff at Asda to forward on CCVTV footage of the theft to police officers.
As a consequence, Steven was left with a long bus commute to work from his home in Rugby.
He said: “I rang up regularly to find out what was happening and if my bike had been recovered. When I rang up on December 4 I was told the case had been closed due to lack of resources. It was quite an old motorbike but I needed it for work.
“The shop opens at 9am – 6pm, so I was leaving Rugby on the bus at 6.15am and getting home at 8.30pm every day. In the end I used all my savings and had to borrow £2o0 in order to buy a new £750 scooter.”
Coventry Police Chief Inspector Paul Minor, said: “We’ve had a period of exceptional demand on our investigation teams and had to prioritise serious criminality and offences against vulnerable victims. This is on top of our policing response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“However, we should be taking action in cases where there are clear lines of enquiry regards the identity of a suspect and it is proportionate to resource those enquiries. On this occasion this has not happened and for this I apologise. We will make contact with the victim and re-open the investigation.”
