Wiltshire News.com

Mark Anthony Witheridge, aged 43 from Whatcombe Brow, Orcheston has been charged with arson with intent to endanger life in relation to an incident in Middleton Road,Salisbury on Sunday 19th February 2012 and has been remanded into custody to appear at Winchester Crown Court on 1st March 2012.

Wiltshire Police Authority has announced that from the end of this month, Chief Constable Brian Moore is to be seconded to the UK Border Force to establish it as a new entity, separate from its former host, the UK Border Agency (UKBA).  As Mr Moore’s contract with WPA expires in December 2012, this will effectively conclude his tenure as Chief Constable of Wiltshire. 

To maintain continuity, Deputy Chief Constable Patrick Geenty will act in the capacity of Chief Constable until such time as a substantive Chief Constable is appointed by Wiltshire’s first Police and Crime Commissioner.  The new Commissioner will be elected on November15^th 2012 and will hold office for a 4 year term.  He or she will take over responsibility for policing in Wiltshire and Swindon on November 22^nd 2012 and an early task will be to appoint a new Chief Constable.

WPA Chair, Christopher Hoare, said:

“We are supporting this secondment of Brian Moore to the UK Border Force where he will be engaged in work of national importance.  We are sure he will make an invaluable contribution, and felt that his skills and experience should be made available in the national interest. 

“Brian became Wiltshire’s Chief Constable in January 2008 and under his leadership Wiltshire has become the safest county in England and Wales.  We know he will be greatly missed by the public, Wiltshire Police and our partners.  WPA recognises, and is very grateful for, Brian’s outstanding contribution to the policing of Wiltshire and Swindon.”

Shortly before 3:00 pm on Sunday 29th January 2012, a man and woman entered Boots, Silver Street, Salisbury.

The man is believed to have selected from the display a Phillips Sensotouch razor valued at £299.99 and a Braun series 7 razor valued at £259.99. He then placed the items in the woman’s bag and they both left the store without making any attempt to pay for the items.

CCTV images of two people officers would like to speak to in connection with the offence are attached.

Anyone with information regarding the identity of the pair or the incident are asked to contact PC Mark Harris at Salisbury Police Station on 101 or Crimestoppers 0800 555 111 where details may be left anonymously if preferred.

Officers from the Priority Crime Team in Salisbury are investigating a burglary which occurred in Barnards Hill, Bemerton Heath on the morning of Wednesday 15th February 2012.

Offender(s) pulled down rear fences and then forced entry to the property. Electrical items such as a computer and camera were stolen.

At the time of the burglary two men wearing reflective coats and hats were seen at the rear of the property. Officers would like to hear from these men or anyone who can help identify them.

It is believed that the offenders may have had a vehicle parked near to Barnards Hill and used this to transport the stolen items.

Anyone who saw any suspicious activity or vehicles in the area of Barnards Hill is asked to contact PC Darren Willis of the Priority Crime Team on 101 or Crimestoppers 0800 555 111 where details may be left anonymously if preferred.

Thirty three year old Marcin Kosma from Marley’s Way in Frome, Somerset has been charged with handling stolen goods. The charges relate to a large number of plant vehicles received by Mr Kosma from across the country between January 2011 and July 2011. He was originally arrested in Westbury on Saturday 9^th July last year, 2011. He appeared at Salisbury Magistrates Court on Wednesday 15^th February 2012 where he was released on conditional bailed to appear back at North West Wiltshire Magistrates Court (Chippenham) on Tuesday 17^th April 2012.

Police in Swindon are investigating a recent spate of thefts from garages, vehicles and sheds  across the town and its surrounding areas.

A number of items, believed to be stolen, have been recovered during this ongoing operation including a one metre long telescope, a carpenters saw mitre, a DeWalt building site radio and a surveyors level. All four items are distinctive and police are keen to trace their owners.

A 19 year old man from Swindon has been arrested on suspicion of burglary and is currently on police bail pending further enquiries.

Anyone who is missing one or more of these items is asked to contact Local Crime Investigator, Gary Fox, by e-mail Gary.Fox@wiltshire.pnn.police.uk

You can reduce your chances of becoming a victim of this type of crime by adhering to the following advice:

Securing a shed

Fit the door with two closed shackle padlocks made of hardened steel. These should be affixed to robust hasps and staples that must be bolted through the door of the shed and reinforced at the back with a steel plate. One lock should be fixed about a third of the way down from the top and the other, a third of the way up from the bottom. This will make the door a lot less easy to force.

• Use the locks at all times.
• Protect glass by fitting a grille or strong wire mesh to the inside of the window and nail up or fit locks to any windows that can be opened.
• Prevent anyone seeing into your shed by placing curtains or other coverings over the window or blacken them out with paint.

Garages

Much of the advice for garden sheds also applies to garages. In addition you should consider fitting:

• High security garage door locks such as the ‘pacri lock’ obtained from DIY stores and locksmiths that can be fitted to the sides of an ‘up and over’ door provide excellent security.  Roller doors can also be fitted with extra security locks such as the Police approved ‘Lock’n’Roller’ device obtained from www.torcanchors.com.
• Fitting a simple, low cost, battery operated shed alarm to the door of your shed or garage may warn of any attempted break in to your property and can act as a deterrent.

Please remember to:

• Clearly and indelibly mark your property in as many places as you can with your name and postcode.
• Take photographs of any valuable property such as statues or garden ornaments. This may help to identify items and help to secure a conviction.
• Secure items such as bicycles to the structure of a building or chain as many items together as possible, fastening the chain with a closed shackle padlock.
• Register your power tools and bicycles at www.immobilise.com

Finally, never leave tools or ladders lying around the garden. Always store garden furniture and tools away in a secure place when they are not in use.

Paul Michael Trotter, aged 34 (dob 21.09.77) from Pontefract, West Yorkshire has been charged with possessing indecent images of children and sexual assault of a child aged under 13  between December 20^th 2010 and January 5^th  2011. This was whilst working for Cunard as a supervisor for a children’s activity area.

He appeared at Chippenham Magistrates Court on the 13th February and was remanded in custody. He is next due to appear on 16^th February via video link at Swindon Magistrates Court.

Trotter was initially arrested on suspicion of making, possessing and distribution of indecent images on 12 August 2011.

He is no longer an employee at Cunard.

Wiltshire police are contacting all of the parents they need to speak to in relation to the investigation, however, if parents are concerned they are asked to call the NSPCC on 0800 980 4502 who have professional advisors on hand to advise them.

Over recent weeks, Wiltshire Police has received a number of reports of vehicle crime across the county. This spate has included the theft of people’s possessions from vehicles and thefts of number plates and catalytic converters.

Often the theft of possessions is by an opportunistic thief who notices that a car has been left insecure and decides to break in. However, the latest technique adopted by thieves is to use Bluetooth on their mobile phones to identify satnavs that have been hidden away but are still on, with their Bluetooth enabled.

Police are therefore advising members of the public to not only conceal satnavs in a place that is secure and out of sight, but to disable their Bluetooth and switch off the device.

Further advice to prevent the theft of possessions is as follows:

• Clean satnav suction marks from your windscreen, as this is an immediate advert to thieves that a satnav is in the vehicle
• Make sure car doors, windows and sun roofs are properly closed and locked
• Remove your stereo if you can – mark it with the vehicle registration number if you can’t
• Don’t leave laptops, mobile phones, handbags, credit cards, cheque books or vehicle documents in your car. If it is unavoidable – place them in the boot and ensure equipment is completely switched off
• Leave your glove box open to show there is nothing in it
• Leave nothing on show – you may know that there is no wallet in your jacket, but a thief will break a window just to check
• If you own a van, make sure you remove tools overnight and display an appropriate sign in the rear window making this clear

Criminals will often steal number plates in order to conceal the identity of their vehicle and commit crime. This can range from the theft of fuel from petrol stations to more serious offences such as robberies, burglaries and drug dealing.

To replace a number plate normally costs around £30. However, anti-tamper number plate screws are available from major retailers such as Halfords and only cost about £5.

The high price of scrap metal has also lead to a spate of catalytic converter thefts. For companies that own a fleet of vehicles it can be extremely expensive to replace these, with one catalytic converter costing around £2500. In order to prevent these thefts from occurring, anti-theft devices can be ordered over the internet and range in price from £80 to £200.

Detective Chief Inspector, Nick John, Head of Volume Crime at Wiltshire Police, said: “In order to prevent further thefts from taking place, officers are engaging in a number of proactive activities such as intelligence work around linked offences and targeted patrols in areas known to have a high number of thefts.

We are also working with companies that deal in second hand property such as scrap metal merchants, in order to potentially recover stolen property and identify offenders.

However, the public also have their part to play. By adhering to simple security advice you can reduce your chances of becoming a victim of crime. You may think that it’s safe to leave your car unlocked or possessions on show whilst you pop into a shop for five minutes, but a thief only needs a matter of seconds to break into your car and steal your belongings.”

For further crime prevention advice please contact your local Crime Prevention Officer on telephone number 101.

Anyone with information in relation to these thefts is asked to contact Wiltshire Police on 101. Alternatively they can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 where information may be left anonymously if preferred.

Police dog Tyler and his handler, PC Tracy Doughty, are celebrating after beating 10 other police dog teams to qualify for the National Police Dog Assessments in April this year.

The initial assessments took place between 31^st January and 2^nd February 2012 at HMS Raleigh and HMS Devonport in Plymouth. In total, 13 police dog teams from across Wales and the South West competed.

The competition consisted of each dog and its handler being scored according to their performance in a number of police dog duties including crowd control, tracking, and searching buildings.

Overall Tyler and Tracy scored 766 points, which was 138 points above the average score and only 22 points behind the winning team. This placed them third overall and second in the South West region.

This high score secured their place in the National Assessments, where the top 1.5% of all police dogs in the UK will compete.

PC Doughty said: “I am proud to be able to represent Wiltshire Police in this prestigious competition and even more proud of Tyler for his performance which helped to secure our place in it.

The initial assessments required a lot of training outside of work. Tyler and I intend to keep up this effort so that we can hopefully continue our success.”

At approximately 5:50 pm on Thursday 26th January 2012 a 22 year old local woman was walking along Bourne Hill, towards Estcourt Road, Salisbury when a male grabbed hold of her handbag and tried to pull it away from her. He was unsuccessful and ran down Bourne Hill towards the Arts Centre.

The male is described as white, late teens/early twenties, 5’10” tall, scrawny build. He was wearing a light coloured hoodie with the hood up over his head, a blue scarf that was covering his mouth and nose. He was wearing dark trousers and light coloured shoes, possibly trainers.

Officers believe he may have been with a female who was described as white, 5’7” tall, of average build and had light coloured hair tied in a pony tail. She was pushing a bike.

Both the male and the female had come from the direction of Estcourt Road, possibly from the St Marks area.

At the time of the incident the woman was heard to shout at the offender: ‘Steve!’ and something similar to ‘What are you doing?’

Officers would like to appeal for the woman described who shouted at the offender to make contact.

Anyone with information is asked to contact PC Nick Bailey on 101 or Crimestoppers 0800 555 111.