Bike Description
21.5" original turquoise frame v.good condition, upgraded to 27speed triple chainring, matching blue taped drops with bar-end gear shifters, Schwalbe Marathon tyres vg condition, silver aluminum rear pannier rack plus front bag fitment, leather covered half toeclips, two water bottle holders, Abus Dlock fitted to rear frame, new Lidl black holed ladies saddle, small purple velvet ribbon tied to handlebars.Theft Description
Between 12mid Sat 17 Sept and 4.30am Sun 18 Sept 2016, from a padlocked shed at rear end of garden in Bitterne Park area of Southampton. It was taken with 3 other bikes from shed (2 more dumped in garden unwanted) which was forced open leaving the padlock still attached. Daring raid as shed is 200m down side passage and garden with visibility from windows and householders were up til early hours and again at 4.30am when theft discovered. A similar raid at a cyclist's house nearby reaped 2 more quality bikes (others left behind) even though these were Dlocked and chained to ladders in padlocked shed and thieves carried the whole lot away so suspect a gang with large van. Similar thefts in local area on previous nights.Recovery Description
3weeks after it was taken in a shed burglary with other bikes, my Raleigh was apparently found abandoned on the driveway of a police officer. I had spent a fortnight working to recover it by: a. getting a page article in Southern Daily Echo covering the problems being caused by the relentless burglars taking hundreds of bikes b. using photos of my bike I advertised my loss on Facebook cycling pages, arranged for posters to be displayed in area of theft c. offered £££ rewards. None of the others taken in area at the time have been recovered so was mine now 'hot property' or just an old classic that would be traced back eventually