My Number Plate has been Cloned!

[Andy]

Had a letter this morning from Barnet Borough Police Station in North London, saying I made off without paying for fuel last Friday. :?

Thankfully - it's not the Zed, but the Van I've recently bought - the one I posted about with a pic, not disguising the number plate. :thumbsdown:

They say they have video evidence of the vehicle with the same number plate driving off from Sainsbury's with £26 of fuel. Phoned them and it's a silver Fiesta van, just like mine - so it's targeted, not a mistake.

I was using the car that day, & can thankfully prove that I was a long way away, but now they've put a mark on the reg plate and I assume I'm going to get pulled over all the time for the foreseeable future - awesome.

I'm actually tempted to go and buy a £99 Northern Irish number plate and get it transferred asap to stop this happening.

Anyone got any experience of this and/or advice? Makes me think me being cautious on the Wales thread about my plate was well justified.. if someone came here to get the plate for a Fiesta van, it would be even easier to get the plate for almost any colour Z4. Assuming they did of course, they might have just seen me about.

 

[chrismann85]

sorry to hear that.

Maybe use this as an excuse to get a private plate from the dvla website?

http://dvlaregistrations.direct.gov...ed=true&openoption=&prefix2.x=88&prefix2.y=40

 

[Z4 Beemer]

That's a bit scary that the car AND numberplate were cloned. :?

 

[gannet]

too scary

now about these cheap numbers plates :?

 

[Andy]

Chris - did u mean to leave the link searching for the prefix "Poo"? 8)

Struggling to totally prove I couldn't have been there - have evidence from 8am, & 7pm, but nothing at lunchtime :thumbsdown:

 

[mmm-five]

Surely they have CCTV of the driver - and surely he's the one responsible. If it can be shown to be someone other than you, then how can they prosecute?

 

[AlanJ]

but now they've put a mark on the reg plate and I assume I'm going to get pulled over all the time for the foreseeable future - awesome.

Andy; sorry to hear of your problem but with petrol prices at and all time high this type of thing is becoming a regular occurrence. DVLA will at your request issue you with a new number to avoid the probability of getting stopped, the link below gives details and what to do.......

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/VehicleCrime/DG_10020050

 

[Z4 Beemer]

Chris - did u mean to leave the link searching for the prefix "Poo"? 8)

Struggling to totally prove I couldn't have been there - have evidence from 8am, & 7pm, but nothing at lunchtime :thumbsdown:

Any logs from internet activity (emails sent, browsing on here...), any purchases from credit card etc. Do they not have footage of what the person looked like, or did they even look like you...?

 

[AlanJ]

Surely they have CCTV of the driver - and surely he's the one responsible. If it can be shown to be someone other than you, then how can they prosecute?

mmm-five; they wont prosecute providing you can offer reasonable evidence that you were somewhere else as Andy has done.

 

[mmm-five]

Surely they have CCTV of the driver - and surely he's the one responsible. If it can be shown to be someone other than you, then how can they prosecute?

mmm-five; they wont prosecute providing you can offer reasonable evidence that you were somewhere else as Andy has done.

Andy posted further on in the thread stating he currently only has proof for morning & evening, but not the lunchtime when the alleged offence took place.

 

[Andy]

Thankfully in places which don't give rise to being where the fuel was purchased, but I guess technically it would still be possible.

Blackpool at 8am, then Worcestershire at 1900.

They claim I nicked the fuel in North London at 1345pm.

I would think if they were really bothered they could prove I was on the M6 at a certain time from the cameras.. we had a car nicked recently & they told us where it had been.

 

[mmm-five]

Thankfully in places which don't give rise to being where the fuel was purchased, but I guess technically it would still be possible.

Blackpool at 8am, then Worcestershire at 1900.

They claim I nicked the fuel in North London at 1345pm.

I would think if they were really bothered they could prove I was on the M6 at a certain time from the cameras.. we had a car nicked recently & they told us where it had been.

I've done a similar route (Liverpool, Brentford, Bristol) within 7 hours, so I can see it's 'possible', and you'd need to fill up before heading back to Worcestercershireer after driving down that far - but you'd hope some common sense would be used.

 

[AlanJ]

Surely they have CCTV of the driver - and surely he's the one responsible. If it can be shown to be someone other than you, then how can they prosecute?

mmm-five; they wont prosecute providing you can offer reasonable evidence that you were somewhere else as Andy has done.

Andy posted further on in the thread stating he currently only has proof for morning & evening, but not the lunchtime when the alleged offence took place.

Burden of proof is with the prosecuting authority - the Crown Prosecution Service (not the police, a common misconception) - if they seek to prosecute then they must disclose all their evidence, in this case the CCTV footage which will show the vehicle and driver. Remember burden of proof for criminal matters is beyond resaonable doubt. The reason the police write to the registered keep and not seek to arrest, as a first option, is that some people genuinely forget to pay in which case the debt is 'civil' (no criminal intent) and can be discharged by making a payment to the garage. It is highly likely that the cloned vehicle will be used again for more petrol purchases and perhaps Central London congestion charge - unlikely as it sounds the more it is used the easier it is to counter any single allegation.

Andy - create a timeline of what you were doing during the day in question at half hour intervals and from that identify who/what can corroborate where you were at various times. At each half hour interval look at the distance you were from the garage in Barnet (Google Earth is good for this) and if it would be practical to have visited the garage from where you were bearing in mind the traffic in North London etc. Sounds like a pain the the ar*e but it shouldn't take long to do. If the CPS do seek to prosecute then as ever seek legal advice.

AND go for the DVLA number plate change

 

[cj10jeeper]

Andy - pretty unfortunate and I'd say enough circumstantial evidence to show you were elsewhere.

So I suspect the individuals own an identical van then trawl for sale ads to find one (I remember you buying it recently) then make up plates and probably just put them on temp while they fill up. Very much doubt they got the number off here.

PITA to deal with :thumbsdown:

 

[Andy]

It's more the issue of being pulled over now that's an ass.. don't mind spending an hour writing a letter.

Good point about putting them on only for the fuel - it's not a bad scam I guess. But if the driver is uninsured and driving around with it on - ie speeding tickets etc, it's going to be a total pain.

 

[chrismann85]

Chris - did u mean to leave the link searching for the prefix "Poo"? 8)

Struggling to totally prove I couldn't have been there - have evidence from 8am, & 7pm, but nothing at lunchtime :thumbsdown:

Yep, the 'poo' license plates seem to be the cheapest!

You seem to have covered a lot of miles on your trip that day, do you have any receipts for fuel that you legitimately bought that day. That petrol station should have footage of you filling up your tank.

Another thing that seems odd is that they only put £26 in their tank, you would think they'd fill up before taking off. Maybe they lost their bottle... Cowards. :x

 

[srhutch]

I was using the car that day, & can thankfully prove that I was a long way away, but now they've put a mark on the reg plate and I assume I'm going to get pulled over all the time for the foreseeable future - awesome.

I'm actually tempted to go and buy a £99 Northern Irish number plate and get it transferred asap to stop this happening.

If there is a marker would it be fixed to the car or plate?

 

[DK55]

Andy,

Same happened to me a while back on a previous vehicle.

Shortly after putting a personalised plate on the car I had a letter from the police for failing to stop and being involved a high speed purist.

The next day I got a penalty charge notice for driving down a bus lane. Which was a front facing camera and if the local council hadn’t been so obstinate, pictures would’ve shown it wasn’t me.

Like you I could prove where I was along with my vehicle.

Spoke with the investigating officer, explained my situation, explained I could prove where I and my car was for that day. Explained the plate in question had recently been transferred. The guy gave me a good grilling before giving me the impression it’s a common occurrence these days.

Investigated it further, spoke to the local council eventually came back to me and gave me a crime reference so I could get the PCN dropped and I never heard any more.

They too marked my number plate but I never got pulled over.

On my experience, speak to the investigating officer, explain what you can prove and offer to supply any proof you may have.

Dan

 

[Andy]

Cool.. I've done that. Keeping copies of everything.

I could almost go and avoid the congestion charge now and deny all knowledge, lol.

Just annoying that nothing is really conclusive... & had the car been sitting on the driveway all day that day, what could I prove? :thumbsdown:

 

[srhutch]

There are so many static ANPR cameras around they must know it's not you.

Are there any differences in the pics such as wheels or windows stickers?