Dispatches highlights bike theft in Cambridge
One bike theft was covered in their show.
Cambridgeshire Constabulary say they are working hard to reduce cycle crime after a TV documentary highlighted an area where theft is significant.
Channel Four's dispatches showed a 250 meter area around Cambridge train station where over 300 bike thefts had been left unsolved over the last three years.
One bike that had been fitted with a tracker by the show was stolen and put up for sale within two days of being left.
One bike the Dispatches team had tracked 'to a house in Saffron Walden, Essex. There it was put up for sale online just 39 hours after being stolen.'
A reporter then arranged to buy the bike and secretly recorded the meeting with the seller. He initially gave her a fake backstory: “Lovely bike, basically brand new. My mum only used it, I think twice for a bike ride,” he said.
When the reporter revealed herself to be a journalist who had filmed the theft, the seller admitted that he had bought the bike in Cambridge and gave it back to her. He denied knowing it was stolen.
Weeks later, Dispatches found 'footage of the same bike seller posted on a local social media page dedicated to exposing bike thieves in Cambridge. In it, he was filmed by a concerned Cambridge resident being accused of handling another stolen bike.'
Cambridgeshire Constabulary told the programme: “We recognise the harm that is caused when a cycle is stolen and we’re working hard to reduce cycle crime and bring offenders to justice...In October 2020 a multi-agency ... group was set up… who have implemented several initiatives to tackle cycle crime…primarily in …the area having the highest volume of thefts”