Yesterday I witnessed an incident to which the Police were later called. The best description I could give of the van was a white panel van like a transit van and without a raised roof. Today I tried looking at pictures of the back of transit vans on the internet, but none of them seemed right. The van had the number plate on the left hand door but was illuminated from each side not from above. Each back door had a black plastic horizontal strip about half way up. The offside had two panels. Can anyone please suggest a make and model matching that description?
Try Renault (Trafic), Fiat (Ducato) and Peugeot (Boxer)and Mercedes (sprinter)types.. but tea leafs generally use the French or Italian ones cos they are cheap second hand.
Also IIRC there are some Japanese/far east ones around these days as well
If you're acting as a witness, describe what you saw. Do not speculate, do not guess, just stick to the facts as you saw things happen. You may have to repeat what you say to the police in court, under oath.
If you or any other witness can remember the registration or even just part of it, then they can probably get all the details off DVLA, and if it turns out that (y)our guess is wrong, then it throws the rest of your testimony into doubt.
Although I said at the time that it was like a Transit and about two panels long with a flat top I also said I was not very familiar with different van models. They asked me if it sounded like a petrol or diesel but not anymore details. Apart from if I saw the reg plates (dirty). No questions about where the plates were on the van, how they were lit or anything. They are the professionals at dealing with crime and I am only an amateur. For all I know there are types of Ford transit vans with the kind of back doors I just described.
Then it their job to find the van from your description of what you saw. It is not your job to search the web looking for van images and then speculate.
You need to write down and keep all the details you can remember but nothing more.
And I would not call the police "professionals at dealing with crime" as that might lead to a charge of libel.
I am afraid plod is like that. It took ME to photograph and measure tyre tracks on the field, look em up online and stay with about 90% certainty 'that was a Subaru 4WD estate car probably'
Sadly that's a very favourite vehicle in the diddy community.
I went to a talk by Colin Dexter inventor of Inspector Morse "Are your detectives true to life?"
"No. Let me give you an example: a car drove through my front garden wall and into the garden, before reversing out. The police arrived and took my statement. Then as they turned to leave, I said 'Don't you want to look at the crime scene?' 'No, there will be nothing we can use.' 'Not Even this?' I said holding out the front bumper and number plate..."
It
It is if you want the bugger caught. You are likely 3 times as intelligent and have 10 times as much time and are 100 times more motivated than Plod.
No, they are not very professional at all ;-)
I am sure if someone had their throat slit, yes, but a routine 'incident'? No way.
I experienced a similar example. One night, 3 yobs, stoned, ran along the line of parked cards (that is, along the roofs/bonnets). Chased by the Police, but not caught until about 2 roads away. They deny running over the cars, and several other criminal acts that had obviously done just beforehand.
Next morning, SOCO arrives, but can't get any evidence because the dew overnight has made all the boot prints on the cars run.
I missed all this, and arrived home to find my wing mirror kicked off and dangling on its cable. I very carefully detach it, and take the shell around to the police, as it has a great trainer print on it. That nailed them - exactly matched a trainer taken from them when they were booked in.
I gave them my receipt for a new wing mirror (£110, IIRC), and went to watch in court. About 10 hearings (and 10 months) later, with different magistrates every time, and only 1 of the original 3 still turning up at court*, he's found guilty. Court asks prosecutor if there have been any claims for damages from the victims - apparently nothing was received from the police, sigh.
I was deeply unimpressed with the whole process.
*One of the others had vanished, and another one was by then charged with rape, on remand, and this case no longer being pursued as too minor in comparison.
It took me over a year to recover my 'stolen and recovered' goods from the police station and I had to drive over 120 miles round trip to get them. Hint: If it happens to you tell the insurance company the only thing that the Police have got you can DEFINITELY identify is some unique personal worthless thing, so you are not without half your possessions and no insurance money, for years.
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