Cat Thefts Arrests Lincolnshire

[Steve Whits]

A substantial amount of stolen catalytic converters found in Lincolnshire police raid:

https://thelincolnite.co.uk/2021/09/bitcoin-machine-cash-and-tonnes-of-catalytic-converters-found-in-long-sutton-raid/

[The Aardvark]

Good news.  It'll be interesting to see how many of the cat converters have markings (etchings or smart water) that enable them to be identified and traced back to the vehicles that they were taken from.  

I also imagine that the penalties for handling waste without the appropriate environmental permit (which is what they're charged with) aren't particularly strong, so let's hope that those guilty of the thefts and damage are found, charged, penalised and publicised to deter others.

[Roy124]

That's OK then, over 30 miles away and clearly not my scrapie mate, aka one-armed bandit, is over 65 and his son over 35.

I suppose the police have to trace a specimen number of owners to confirm the Cats were stolen - charged with 20 cases of.... and 2,000 cases into consideration. 

[Roy124]

If they dispose of waste without a licence it is fly tipping even if they acquired the stuff legitimately.  At least Cat marking can disprove that. 

"Fly-tipping is a serious criminal offence for which you can be prosecuted. The courts have various powers available to them to tackle fly-tipping, including imprisonment, unlimited fines and an order to deprive rights to a vehicle used to commit the offence."

But if you, as a householder, passed your waste discarded Cat to an unlicensed scrapie you could be fined £400.

Ouch! 

[Rhymes with Paris]

Not too far from me this one.

I found it interesting that the focus was on the illegal waste element rather than the large scale theft angle.

Let's hope that there are sufficient "resources" to pursue the criminal side of this ,and support from the CPS to prosecute.

The potential cost and misery caused to so many people if the cats are all stolen must be vast.

Of course I do realise that it is only initial charges that may expand into more serious ones on further investigation, hopefully resulting in prison sentences to discourage the continuing scourge of this criminal activity.