Motorcyclist Max Foster was stunned when police refused to chase the thief who had just stolen his moped - because the yob wasn't wearing a helmet.Gobsmacked Max, 18, was told that officers feared being sued if the crook fell off. It left the gang free to escape with Max's £1,200 bike, which was only insured third party and is probably lost for good.
Yesterday the furious heating engineer stormed: "They told me 'sorry mate but there's nothing we can do'. This softly-softly approach is totally ridiculous - I was shocked and appalled by what they said. This policy is giving thieves a perfect way to exploit the law and steal as many bikes as they want without getting arrested."
Amazingly, forces across the country are adopting a similar policy for fear of being taken to court by culprits.
Max lives with stepdad Geoff, 52, mum Claire, 52, and brothers Jack, 19, and Ben, 20, in Coleford, Somerset, and uses his Gilera 180cc moped to commute to work in Bath.
He was staying at a friend's house in Bath on Tuesday night when he was woken in the early hours by the sound of his machine being ridden outside.
He looked out the window at 1.45am and saw three yobs taking it in turns to ride the bike up and down the street without helmets.
Max dialled 999 and a police response unit arrived just minutes after the trio sped away with his bike.
But the two officers told him they could not give chase for health and safety reasons.
Max, who bought the three-year-old bike six months ago, stormed: "I rang the police and when they arrived I told them all about my bike getting stolen. But they said they weren't allowed to follow the yobs becasue they were not wearing helmets and it was too dangerous. They told me the force could be sued if the riders fell off mid-chase and hurt themselves.''
Avon and Somerset police admitted calling off the chase but said its investigation into the theft continued
3 comments:
wow, that is plum scary..and stupid..sounds like something the american cops would do...
In the states we'd have shot him... sorry, seems a pansy story...
I like the story of a man who phoned the cops when he discovered a burglar in his shed , they said they were too busy ,so he rang back saying "it's ok I shot him, can you call for a hearse" Two minutes later 5 police cars turned up ! After arresting the burglar they asked why the man had lied about the shooting.....
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