By Inspector Maxine Cilia
With the festive sea-son arriving, we see a rise of some certain crimes. One of those crimes is theft of bi-cycles. Everyone is looking for a bargain, but please don’t be tempted to buy a bi-cycle from a local advert if you do not meet the person at their home address and they are not willing to give you a receipt for your purchase. All too often we hear of people buying stolen bikes through various online markets and online sales on social me-dia. If the owner cannot tell you any history about the bike, it is likely not to be theirs. You can also check the serial numbers on the national bike register https://www.bikeregister.com/ to see if it is stolen. If it is indeed stolen please contact Surrey Po-lice and let us know. If you get a new bike or are buying a new bike as a present for Christmas please consid-er getting it registered straight away and re-cording the details of the serial number and pictures somewhere safe on an electronic de-vice or on the register app. Consider always buying a good lock also. It is always easier to do this when it is shiny and new. We have made some great arrests lately; a female, Mary Ellen Gavin aged 38 from Ash-ford was arrested after being detained at Tesco in Sunbury . This was after numerous reports of theft from and of handbags. She was charged with 10 counts; 6 theft and 4 fraud and remanded in to police custody. At court she pleaded guilty. We are awaiting sentencing at Guildford Crown Court 10th December 2021 but she was further remand-ed. This was a great conclusion to some wor-rying thefts of handbags from some of the older members of the community and this has resulted in a decline in the thefts of purses and handbags across the borough. When out shopping in busy environments, keep your bag where you can see it and have physical hold of it. Ensure it has a zipped or closing section where you keep your purses and valuables. Consider keeping cards and cash separate and never store your pin num-bers in your purse. If you see any of the SNT team out and about ask them for a purse bell which you can easily attach to you bag or purse to alert you if it is disturbed. We are aware of the issues currently being experienced in Shepperton at Studios Road and the Safer Neighbourhood teams have been out with the speed guns and tackling the issues. Unfortunately there are no restrictions for parking in Studios Road, but we certainly can look at speed and ensuring that it is en-forced. We will continue working with local partners and Councillors to ensure they can make some informed decisions about the situ-ation and parking restrictions that may be necessary in the future. After a long period of low burglary numbers we are seeing a number of residential burgla-ries at weekends. This is usually where hous-es are left unoccupied for a number of hours. It appears that burglars are favouring gaining entry by accessing rear back doors and patios so please ensure you have secured your back gardens and side entrances with good gates and padlocks. Consider video camera door-bells as we know they are a good deterrent. Many capture speech and we regularly hear suspects commenting that there is a recording door bell. Wishing everyone a safe and happy festive celebration.
Maxine Cilia
Spelthorne Borough Commander
Maxine.Cilia@surrey.pnn.police.uk
Mobile Tel 07967988468
Landline 01483 631676
Chair of Surrey Women’s Network