A pair of amateur thieves may have revealed more than intended as they made off with a trailer and a quad bike.
The duo pulled up at a property in Invergarry in the Highlands in a dark-coloured Ford Transit and made off with the silver Ifor Williams trailer and the blue Honda ATV after hitching the cart onto the back of the van. Clues in the footage, which has been shared on social media, suggest the pair had planned the theft in advance.
Silver tape can be seen pasted across the numberplate of the Transit, presumably in a bid to prevent the vehicle from being identified. As the first man hops out of the Ford to hitch up the trailer, he appears to have hitched a hat over his head and moves his hand to hide his face from the camera.
The driver then jumps out, sending what looks like a hammer tumbling to the ground. He picks it up and then moves to the back of the van, trying to cover his face with his hand and then the collar of his fleece.
Less than a minute passes by as the duo finish illegally connecting the tow. They then jump back into the van and speed off.
The theft took just over a minute, at around 11.40am on Monday October 31. Witness reports suggest the van and trailer may have been seen heading towards the A9 at Dalwhinnie, heading in the direction of Perth, around two hours later.
The trailer was stolen from a property belonging to Black Sheep Hotels, a hospitality firm run by Indian entrepreneur Sanjay Narang. Sharon Machado, director of the firm, said the thieves had clearly scoped out the area before making off with their quarry.
She said: "They knew the CCTV cameras were there when they drove in. You can see from the footage they drive straight in and cover their faces.
"They knew exactly where the cameras were and where the quad was. It had been sitting in the yard for about ten days.
"We've shared the footage and had a few people calling us to share information, which we've been passing to the police. We only bought the quad bike in July for farming in the area. Even the trailer was brand new."
Footage of the swindle has been viewed over 20,000 times since Sharon shared it on Facebook. She has since learned that the thieves stopped at a petrol station on their way out east.
Brazenly, they asked a local for a loan of a screwdriver to remove the numberplate from the trailer in a bid to cover their tracks. Police are investigating the theft and have determined that a third man was in the van who was unseen in the footage.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “On the afternoon of Monday, 31 October, 2022, police received a report of a trailer and a quad being stolen from a premises off the A87 at Invergarry. Enquiries have established that three men in a dark coloured van were seen acting suspiciously in the area earlier that morning and later that afternoon near the A9 at Dalwhinnie.
"Enquiries are ongoing and anyone with information including dash cam footage if they were travelling in these areas on that date should call police on 101, quoting incident 2099 of 31 October, 2022. Alternatively, please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, if you wish to remain anonymous.”
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