Guitar theft couple - update

Fretwired

Interesting extract from Telegraph article on recent guitar theft.

Will Hubbard (Peach Guitars), believes the pair are Eastern European and have targeted shops throughout Europe. “We were contacted by a shop in Copenhagen who said they were hit for high end guitars by them two years ago,” he said. “The couple think they are untouchable. At our store there were no fingerprints and they ensured they didn’t use our car park so we couldn’t get their car registration number on CCTV.”

Then, on March 3, they were caught on CCTV in Hayes Music Shop in Southampton where two saxophones, a Selmar SA-80 and Yanagisawa S901, worth more than £5,000 were stolen.

Richard Boler, who owns the brass and woodwind specialist shop, said: “They just stare at the CCTV cameras, they don’t care. I think they move the instruments out of the country and sell them.”

Paul McManus, chief executive of Music Industries Association which represents music shops, said: “This is stealing expensive musical instruments to order. We are aware this woman appeared in a number of venues a few years ago. We thought they had gone away. But they’re back. We want police forces to join up the dots and work together.

“We think she was taken to court a few years ago but she got off because she claimed she was not in the country at the time of the offence. I think she’s Romanian.”

Jonathan Myall of Just Flutes in Croydon is convinced that the woman targeted his shop seven years ago stealing his own prized Selma Mk VI saxophone worth more than £6,000.

“When I saw pictures of her stealing the guitar in Essex I immediately thought: ‘My God, I recognise her.’

“She did exactly the same type of theft here seven years ago. She took my tenor saxophone from a display cabinet and put it in her coat - it’s not an easy shaped instrument to conceal - then casually walked out.”

Andy Legg of Absolute Music in Bournemouth added: “They did us along with two other music shops on the south coast eight years ago. I lost a £3,000 guitar. It’s definitely the same couple.”


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/17/couple-engage-musical-instrument-stealing-spree-walk-shop-11000/

octatonic

Cunts.

Jack_

The thing is, they are nearly untouchable no?

Are you going to be able to get international police co-operation to catch a couple of thieves?

Then if you do catch them, what can you do? Is jail time even a possibility for theft? Won't they just get things like community service, fines etc?

Then they probably reside when not committing theft in a country that doesn't give a shit and wouldn't co-operate with our authorities, like Turkey or Czech Republic.

octatonic

Well they are pretty famous now so I'd imagine that retailers would be looking closely at anyone matching their description entering their shop.
I reckon it will be very hard for them to do it again in the UK.

not_the_dj

octatonic said:

Well they are pretty famous now so I'd imagine that retailers would be looking closely at anyone matching their description entering their shop.
I reckon it will be very hard for them to do it again in the UK.

For a while at least. Reports that they hit a few stores years ago, the might just be off targeting another region, then when all is forgotten head back. 

Three-ColourSunburst

Jack_ said:

The thing is,

they are nearly untouchable no?

Are you going to be able to get international police co-operation to catch a couple of thieves?

Then if you do catch them, what can you do? Is jail time even a possibility for theft? Won't they just get things like community service, fines etc?

Then they probably reside when not committing theft in a country that doesn't give a shit and wouldn't co-operate with our authorities, like Turkey or Czech Republic.

Sounds much like these two!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2107289/Posh-music-shop-owners-hob-nobbed-celebrity-clients-convicted-1million-stolen-guitar-plot.html

They also seem to be benefiting from a lack of international cooperation - only in this case on the part of the British authorities - given that they seem to be evading the action taken against them in Italy for their supposed involvement in the original thefts by simply not turning up when summonsed.

http://www.guitaranch.it/web/?page_id=15 

victorludorum

octatonic said:

Cunts.

Is that Romanian for something? ;-)

Whitecat

“Jonathan Myall of Just Flutes in Croydon is convinced that the woman targeted his shop seven years ago stealing his own prized Selma Mk VI saxophone worth more than £6,000.”

What a misleading shop name.

mellowsun

Need some kind of sting operation where they are lured to a shop selling some high-end instruments

octatonic

victorludorum said:

octatonic said:

Cunts.

Is that Romanian for something? ;-)

This made me chuckle:

Jack_

Also, Guitar Theft Couple sounds like a really shit low rent sequel to Grand Theft Auto.

merlin

I'm happy that Selmer is misspelled twice in the above quotes. 

However, if anyone running or working in any shop wants me to stand casually by the front door with a can of CS gas in my pocket just in case, then I'd happily oblige. 

underdog

I'd be sticking GPS tracker in the cavity all of high end guitars if I were a shop and let the police track the bastards back to where they're keeping them all before they ship them out.

Lebarque

Whitecat said:

“Jonathan Myall of Just Flutes in Croydon is convinced that the woman targeted his shop seven years ago stealing his own prized Selma Mk VI saxophone worth more than £6,000.”

What a misleading shop name.

There's a shop near my work called Just Baguettes. It's always irritated me that they sell sandwiches and bagels too.

mart

Lebarque said:
....

There's a shop near my work called Just Baguettes. It's always irritated me that they sell sandwiches and bagels too.

Yeah, but the sandwiches and bagels might be unjust.

Dominic

and I feel so humbled by having dared to suggest that the woman looked Roma ..........seems to have upset one chap
Oh ,look it's snowing today

Stuckfast

Maybe they only sell righteous flutes?

RandallFlagg

mellowsun said:

Need some kind of sting operation where they are lured to a shop selling some high-end instruments

Sounds like a job for Ant & Dec

Dominic

They probably have their own Music Shop and are just out stocking -up..............certainly prolific enough

Jack_

Y'know who this is a job for?

normula1

The man who's so clued up he didn't realise his sidekick was a benefit's cheat? 
The job is surely one for Dominic Littlewood given his pre-cuddly tv voice of the wronged person career.