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Taxi drivers speak out after 'menace' thefts
FURIOUS taxi drivers have spoken out after a spate of thefts that have left them with smashed windows – and hundreds of pounds out of pocket. Over the last eight months one car firm boss alone said that around 30 of his cars have been broken into.
Steve Waggott, whose firm supplies cars to taxi drivers, said: “He smashes the window and rifles through the car, grabbing what cash he can. He causes a great deal of damage.” The car hire boss estimated that an “absolute minimum” of 300 cars could have been targeted across Swindon. It is not known whether the thefts are being perpetrated by one individual, a gang or multiple people acting alone.
But drivers say that the nature of the thefts is generally the same. They come down in the morning to find that the car they had parked outside the family home has had its front window smashed and items like satellite navigation systems, loose change, stereos and dashboard cameras stripped from the car. It is said that the thief or thieves smash the window as they cycle past the vehicle. If no alarm is heard, the thief will return to the car to search for any belongings left in it overnight. Most of the thefts have taken place in East Swindon, drivers said – with Park North, Park South, Walcot and Eldene the hotspots.
Private hire driver Godfrey Mwangi’s car was most recently broken into last Tuesday – with the stereo covering taken from the private hire vehicle. The 42-year-old father-of-three, who said his car had been broken into three times in the last 18 months, said: “Every time they do it you lose your earnings for a day or maybe more. “It took me a whole day to get my car fixed. I lost a day-and-half’s earnings and £80 to get the window fixed.”
For self-employed taxi-drivers, who rely on their vehicles for their living, the costs of clearing up after the thieves are costs they can ill-afford. Driver Benson Mwangi, 49, estimates that a recent theft cost him £500 – including lost earnings, insurance excess and change stolen from the vehicle. “Last time they broke into my car I had just popped into my house for a cup of tea. I came out and the window had been smashed. “It’s a menace. It’s been happening so regularly and it’s been going on for such a long time.”
Godfrey added: “All we want to do is to make the police and the council aware that something is happening.” Drivers say that thefts from vehicles has always been a problem – but that it’s getting worse. Benson said: “Before, it used to be a one off thing. At the moment, it’s happening nearly every other day. Whoever’s doing it at the moment is doing it as a job.” Steve Waggott added: “I think this is something new, in that he’s becoming more brazen.”
Residents have linked a theft in Eldene earlier this month that saw a woman’s car window smashed before her eyes with a man believed to be behind thefts from taxis. The woman, 34, who did not wish to be named, was leaving for work at around 9am on Thursday July 20 after dropping her daughter off at school when the theft took place.
A man cycled past her black saloon car, which was parked on Colingsmead, before smashing her front passenger-side window and grabbing the woman’s bag from the foot well. “I chased him down to Stubsmead, then went looking for the bag. I thought he’d probably dumped it.” The woman called the police at 9:10am – just minutes after the attack happened. But she told the Adver early last week that she had not seen any police officers at the scene, nor had she been contacted by investigators since the alleged theft. “Since the incident I’ve only slept about 12 hours – in the last four days,” the mother-of-one said.
Wiltshire Police have not responded to the Adver’s request for comment on the spate of alleged thefts.
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