23 December 2010
The ongoing thefts of Rotax engines from light aircraft has led a policeman to present himself as a point of contact to collate as much information as possible on the crimes and pass it on to police forces around the country.
PC Steve Moffitt, the General Aviation Officer of the Warwickshire Police Ports Office, explained that the thefts he was aware of started in 2009 and were reported to him by Skydrive, the UK agent for Rotax, who are based in PC Moffitt’s force area. “Although none of the thefts occurred in Warwickshire and were reported to their respective Police Forces, I was happy to collate all the details, speak to some of the injured parties and pass on the details to all UK Police Forces, including a National Ports Centre, and our Regional Ports Centre,” he explained.
“This was vitally important to let other General Aviation Officers know what was going on, so we could collate any details of other thefts, to compare evidence which hopefully may lead to a conviction, and so that officers could go out and speak to their GA community to pass on any crime prevention advice if needed. Personally I visited all the sites within Warwickshire with a based aircraft, to make people aware of what was going on (although as we know it has all been Rotax engines that have been targeted) and to offer any safety advice if needed.
“In all, for the period I looked at the thefts, I identified the theft of five engines. These were a C42, stolen from Yatebury, Wiltshire in May 2009, a Katana stolen from Defford, Worcestershire in June 2009, and a Sting, and two Foxbat engines stolen from Otherton, Staffs in August 2009. All the engine numbers were obtained and circulated as stolen, I believe on the Police National Computer, and through Rotax, who have a database of stolen engines.”
When it comes to stopping the thefts, PC Moffitt said that it was a matter of repeating old advice. “Extra locks, security lights, alarms and CCTV all help, but in all honesty, if the criminals are organised and determined, I am sorry to say that there is the possibility that they may achieve their aim. However, by collating whatever information we can, either from the victims these crimes or anyone else who might know something useful, we hope to build up a picture which might help to put an end to these activities.”
If you do have some information on these thefts that you think will be of interest to PC Moffitt, you can contact him on 01926 415277 and [email protected] <a href=”http://www.warwick.police.uk”>Click here for more</a>
