Crime wave hits local tradesmen

Every twenty-three minutes a tradesman has their lives drastically changed in matter of a few minutes according to the BBC website. This crime occurs at the cost of a £20 skeleton key. Joel Grover a local electrician has lived through this traumatic crime. In the past ten years he has had his tools stolen on three separate occasions totalling a minimum of a £6000 loss. Add the cost of fixing the damage of the van (around £1200) the total loss of money through this horrific crime is a grand total of £7200. Joel Grover states that “it isn’t only the loss of your tools which affects you, but it is the realisation that you can’t work for the upcoming weeks and have buy your tools again, which eats into the money you have saved, which you rely on to get back into work. It is a harrowing experience and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”

In 2016/17 the BBC recently reported that the theft of tools has risen to 22,749 thefts a year*. Yet these are only the reported cases. This rise of theft can be traced back to the £20 skeleton key found on Amazon and eBay. In a matter of minutes, a thief can find this key on amazon and buy it with a few clicks of a button. The key is also the first thing listed on the website when you search for `skeleton key`, making it all too simple for the thieves. This easy access is what allows the thieves to enter vans with ease and claim the tools that people across England use as a means of life, for themselves.

To prevent this tragedy, it is suggested that those who work with tools park their vehicle in a busy area with CCTV cameras and wherever possible to store their tools away from their van.  However, if this isn’t possible, to help with the recovery of tools you can register your tools on the immobile register which marks the tools, so they are easily identifiable if they are stolen.

If you have been affected by this act and want to stand up to the theft of tools and enforce a severe consequence to those who commit this heinous act, then visit the change.org website and sign the petition created by Mark Riley who wants to make this happen. –

https://www.change.org/p/theresa-may-mp-stronger-punishment-for-perpetrators-of-tool-thefts-from-tradesman-s-vehicles/nftexp2/control?recruiter=359981852&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=share_petition&utm_term=share_petition&utm_content=nafta_share_post_image_en_2%3Acontrol

Morgan Grover Ursuline High School