Organised crime gang sentenced for prolific thefts of more than £100,000 worth of bikes

It looks like the gang were stealing anything and everything. If the photo is relevant and not a stock image, there's a lot of BSOs but also some e-bikes, and a Diamondback trials bike in there. I expect the police saw what the majority was and valued the lot based on that, ignoring the bikes that are worth considerably more than their scrap value.

Certainly seems a low number if the police were using the market value rather than the resale value, if as the report states the gang were operating for two years with a maximum number of thefts of 68 in a month we can probably assume an average of about 50 thefts per month. That's 1200 bikes at £83 each, not many new bikes available at that price and even at secondhand prices they would have to be spectacularly tatty.

It's a bit unclear what the "£100,000" refers to. If it solely refers to the 57 bikes recovered at the warehouse, then that's an average of ~£1,750 per bike. 

OnYerBike wrote:

It's a bit unclear what the "£100,000" refers to. If it solely refers to the 57 bikes recovered at the warehouse, then that's an average of ~£1,750 per bike. 

It says they stole £100,000 worth "over a two year period"; with 68 thefts a month at the height of their activities it must refer to more than just the bikes recovered. Also, even in a rich area like the City you'd be lucky to find that many £1500 plus bikes, people who use that type of bike for commuting generally only do so if they have secure storage for them.

It merely states in excess of £100k.

I suspect there are thresholds on more serious penalties etc.

So plausibly the police don't really care what it is worth - They care that the value is above threshold A and below threshold B.

Wouldn't surprise me if thresholds are £100k, then £1m...

Add in of course that police valuations are current, used value, not replacement costs etc (fairly sure I would spend 2-3x my bikes practical resale value to replace it...).

I've found a press release on the City of London Police's website and that states "The City of London Police recovered 57 bikes, with a value of £100,000, as well as bike parts at Express Plant Hire". 

However, it does also state that "the gang stole more than £100,000 worth of bikes over a two-year period." 

If the former is accurate, it would indicate the latter is technically also accurate but a massive underestimate. Possibly it's a case of "we found bikes worth £100,000 but know they have stolen many more". 

I would also note the 68 thefts per month is the total reported within the City, not all of which would have anything to do with this gang. Also note that the City of London Police's juristiction is relatively small - it is quite likely that the gang would have been involved in thefts in areas that fall under the Met.

https://www.cityoflondon.police.uk/news/city-of-london/news/2024/februar...

I note that the plant hire firm still seems to be in business.