Tool thefts are a ‘plague’, tradespeople say | EUROtoday
South East and South Investigations Teams

A Kent roofer who had £3,000 value of instruments stolen within the time it took to purchase a espresso is backing requires harder penalties for thieves.
Dennis Richardson from Maidstone, mentioned: “We were out of sight for a couple of minutes at a coffee shop.
“I’ve bought a household, and we have got to eat, we have got to pay payments. To all of the sudden have to seek out £3,000 just isn’t straightforward,” he said.
The government says it will continue to work with the police “to discover methods to deal with instrument theft, guarantee justice for victims, and punish criminals”.
A bill is going through Parliament, tabled by a Hampshire MP, which seeks to impose harsher sentencing for tool thieves.
Restricting jobs
Mr Richardson, who works across the South East, and whose van was targeted in Dulwich, south-east London, said: “I’d say they’d adopted me down that highway.
“Every single power tool had been stolen.”
He mentioned: “I stay away from certain areas of London now. It’s restricted the jobs I want to take.”
He is becoming a member of a rally in Parliament Square on Monday, the place campaigners will demand higher enforcement.
Paul Saunderson-Barker, a plumber from Sussex, who can also be attending the rally, mentioned he was left “devastated” after his van was damaged into.
He informed the BBC: “They stole power tools and a thermal imaging camera. I had over £6,000 of equipment stolen.”
He mentioned: “Other self employed traders locally have rallied around to help me.”

Tens of thousands and thousands of kilos value of kit is stolen annually, in line with latest analysis by one insurance coverage firm.
Figures present that in 2023, of all of the incidents of instrument theft reported to the police, about half had been taken from a automobile.
Many of those are taken from vans, which are sometimes left severely broken after being focused.

Builder Stephen Baker estimates he misplaced about £15,000 value of instruments when his van was damaged right into a yr in the past.
“It took them 22 seconds to get in to the van, four-and-a-half minutes to empty it,” he mentioned.
After dropping his enterprise as a result of he was unable to work, Mr Baker mentioned he tried to take his personal life.
He mentioned every thing that he had ever labored for had been taken away in a matter of minutes.
“It’s not just your tools that have gone missing, it’s your career, your way of providing for family, it’s everything. It’s horrible”, he says.
“I just felt worthless.”

As effectively as particular person tradespeople, organisations are additionally being focused.
Power instruments value greater than £20,000 had been stolen from a charity workshop in Chichester, West Sussex, simply earlier than Christmas.
Sue Livett, the managing director of the Aldingbourne Trust, which helps adults with studying disabilities, mentioned: “They were high value, good, solid tools, all worth a lot of money and necessary for the work we do.”
Since the break-in the charity says it has elevated safety, however the long-term results will probably be more durable to repair:
“It makes people a bit less trusting and will affect the activities they can do,” Ms Livett mentioned.

Tradespeople from throughout the UK will collect in London on Monday to name for a change within the regulation to assist deter the theft of their useful instruments.
Trades United, the marketing campaign group organising the rally, says it desires to see longer sentences for criminals and curbs on promoting second-hand energy instruments at knock-down costs.
Shoaib Awan, from the group, says the crime is a nationwide “plague that cripples businesses – the loss of work, the loss of earnings”.
Mr Awan, who’s a fuel fitter from Romford, east London, based Trades United after £8,500-worth of instruments had been stolen from his van.
“Things have to change. The penalties and punishments have to be there,” he mentioned.
Trades United is looking for stronger regulation across the sale of instruments at automobile boot gross sales and markets.

At Kent Police’s HQ in Maidstone, two transport containers homes practically 4,000 stolen instruments, value about £1m, which had been seized by the police over the past yr.
Officers say they can not hint the house owners for a “large percentage” of them, and are calling for the obligatory registration of energy instruments’ serial numbers on the level of buy.

The Theft of Tools of Trade (Sentencing) Bill, tabled by Amanda Martin, MP for Portsmouth North, seeks to impose harsher sentencing for instrument thieves.
The invoice proposes including theft of instruments to the checklist of examples thought of as inflicting “significant additional harm” to a sufferer.
It additionally goals to raised recognise the full monetary impression of getting instruments stolen, reminiscent of repairs to a automobile and lack of work.
“When you add in the value of the work loss, the reputational damage, the damage to the vans as well it can far exceed the value of the stolen tools,” she mentioned.
“Even though we have preventative measures in place, tools are still being nicked.”
The Bill is due for a second studying in April.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg7285zz8eo