Three arrests made in Telford burglary probe
Three suspects have been arrested in relation to a burglary where £30,000 worth of electric bikes were allegedly stolen.
The items went missing following a break-in at Telford based Severn Valley Electric Bikes on December 18.
They were recovered after the business's managing director used social media to track the goods to an address, in Gozzard Street, Bilston, on Tuesday evening.
West Midlands Police confirmed that a man, 27, and a woman, 25, were arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods and bailed pending further inquiries. While a second man, 31, was arrested on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle and also bailed as a result.
Mike Little, of Severn Valley Electric Bikes, in Halesfield, has criticised West Mercia Police for not attending Bilston to investigate his tip-off.
However, the force's Telford chief Superintendent Tom Harding said: "We the concerns that have been raised and are very aware the impact crimes such as this have on local businesses and always look to ensure we explore all lines of enquiries in our investigation to not only recover property but to catch those responsible and under We Don’t Buy Crime utilise a wide range of tactics to do this.
“We know that sometimes we might not be able to attend every call for our service which is why we assess the threat, harm and risk of every incident that is reported to us so that we can identify the vulnerability of the victim and ensure we respond accordingly to make sure we protect those who are most vulnerable, which, as I’m sure our local communities would expect, an immediate threat to life being our utmost priority.
“In relation to this particular incident we received a call yesterday afternoon from the victim who believed property that had been stolen from him was being sold on social media, the items were believed to be in the West Midlands Police area. The victim was advised this information would be passed to the officer investigating the burglary, however the victim advised us he was going to attend the address and as such our operational communications centre contacted West Midlands Police to advise them of his intentions.”
