Dumped bike

[keithmac]

So if I take someone's car for a drive on a night while they're in bed, keep it a week then take it back it's not theft?.

 

[Drago]

No, its TWOC.

 

[Alan O]

So if I take someone's car for a drive on a night while they're in bed, keep it a week then take it back it's not theft?.

The act would seem to suggest that, but if you were caught before you returned it you might have trouble convincing anyone of your original intent.

No, its TWOC.

And there's that too.

Alan

 

[Globalti]

This was how I got started on this road cycling lark. I was losing my mountain biking mojo and one Saturday morning in February 2009 I found a brand new 2006 Specialized Roubaix dumped off a bridge near my home. It was almost un-ridden but somebody had smashed the rear wheel, which I assumed was why they had dumped it. So I took it to the Police who couldn't have been less interested - "Oh yeah, another bike? We'll chuck it in the big shed out the back with all the others." "Well don't chuck it", said I, "This one's worth over two grand!" So the clerk laboriously filled in a report in a huge ledger, almost biting her tongue with the effort, then taking a ruler and tearing off part of the page as a receipt. It was at that point that I realised that there was zero chance of this old ledger report being matched up with a stolen report on the Police computer. At that stage my concern was to reunite the bike with its owner but despite calls to a number of local shops and posts on some web fora nobody claimed it so a month later it became mine and I bought it some new wheels and gave up mountain biking.

 

[Alan O]

This was how I got started on this road cycling lark. I was losing my mountain biking mojo and one Saturday morning in February 2009 I found a brand new 2006 Specialized Roubaix dumped off a bridge near my home. It was almost un-ridden but somebody had smashed the rear wheel, which I assumed was why they had dumped it. So I took it to the Police who couldn't have been less interested - "Oh yeah, another bike? We'll chuck it in the big shed out the back with all the others." "Well don't chuck it", said I, "This one's worth over two grand!" So the clerk laboriously filled in a report in a huge ledger, almost biting her tongue with the effort, then taking a ruler and tearing off part of the page as a receipt. It was at that point that I realised that there was zero chance of this old ledger report being matched up with a stolen report on the Police computer. At that stage my concern was to reunite the bike with its owner but despite calls to a number of local shops and posts on some web fora nobody claimed it so a month later it became mine and I bought it some new wheels and gave up mountain biking.

And then you dumped your mountain bike outside a shop?

 

[spen666]

....
Technically, however, if the owner comes forward in five years time you must return it. However, this is unlikely, and by then you'll have doubtless fitted new parts so you will have a financial stake in the bike yourself and as such could be a legitimate co-owner, so they've need to sue you for its return if you chose not to do so. Very unlikely indeed.

You would no. Be a legitimate co owner.

There is no such thing in English Law.

You would own the parts you had put on. You would not be a co owner of someone elses frame etc

 

[DaveReading]

That is why TWOCing is a specific offence.

An offence against the English language ?

 

[growingvegetables]

An offence against the English language ?

Definitively - it's twocking. HTH

 

[spen666]

Definitively - it's twocking. HTH

no, its twoc not twock as it stands for :
Taken
Without
Owner's
Consent

 

[spen666]

So if I take someone's car for a drive on a night while they're in bed, keep it a week then take it back it's not theft?.

absolutely correct. You may be guilty of TWOC or aggravated TWOC, almost certainly Driving Without Insurance as well, but not theft as there would be no intention to permanently deprive the owner of his goods

 

[keithmac]

I've just read you can't TWOC a bicycle, the law is a strange thing!.

How do the Police prove bike thieves weren't intending to give them back eventually?.

If they find a room full of bikes the thief could say they were keeping them safe and trying to ruinite the bikes with their owners..

 

[Alan O]

I've just read you can't TWOC a bicycle, the law is a strange thing!.

How do the Police prove bike thieves weren't intending to give them back eventually?.

If they find a room full of bikes the thief could say they were keeping them safe and trying to ruinite the bikes with their owners..

People accused of crimes are always coming up with "possible but highly improbable" excuses, which is why we have the "beyond reasonable doubt" thing rather than requiring absolute proof.

Someone with a room full of allegedly stolen bikes, but who had not contacted police about them and could show no evidence of trying to find their owners, would be very unlikely to be given the benefit of the doubt.

Alan

 

[fossyant]

Our local face book pages have regular posts with found bikes (usually BSO's). I suppose the only thing to watch out for is the scammers who will claim it's their bike, so you'd need some proof.

 

[Alan O]

I've just read you can't TWOC a bicycle, the law is a strange thing!

Looking at the act again, that does not seem to be the case.

It appears, instead, that subsection 1) applies to all vehicles with the exception of pedal cycles, and that subsection 5) applies to pedal cycles instead. The difference appears to be that taking a pedal cycle has a lower maximum fine and no provision for imprisonment.

Alan

 

[Drago]

As usual, the poor who might not be able to afford a car, have their possessions valued less by the car driving law makers.