Comedian's number plate sells for serious money
In our last UK Number Plate News roundup we reported the impending auction of J35 TER, the private registration plate formerly owned by Cornish comedian Jethro. Jethro, whose real name was Geoff Rowe, died in 2021.
J35 TER far exceeded the auctioneer's estimate of £15,000 to £20,000 at an online auction conducted by Stags, a West Country company specialising in machinery and equipment auctions, surveying and estate agency. There was healthy competition for the registration and bidding continued into the evening. J35 TER eventually sold for a spectacular £30,500.
Auctioneer Harvey Pile acknowledged the added appeal of J35 TER's association with Jethro, saying, "The origin of it (J35 TER) is important and I think that's definitely helped us promote it and obviously helped the sale prices be very very healthy."
As well as Jethro's private registration, the auction lots included vehicles and farm equipment owned by the late comedian.
Cloned number plates used in 13% of forecourt fuel thefts
Data supplied by ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) operators, and police forces across the UK, shows that around 13% of petrol station fuel thefts involve vehicles using cloned number plates.
Fuel theft from petrol stations is an example of the wider offence known as "Making off Without Payment", rather than being a specific offence in its own right. The maximum penalty for Making off Without Payment (MOWP) is two years imprisonment.
The ANPR information and associated investigation has revealed that, in addition to the 13% of cloned plates, thieves also used fake number plates displaying made up character combinations. Another method involved the use of vehicles without a registered keeper.
A report by Forecourt Trader, the leading information source for the petrol retail sector, claims that up to 94% of forecourt petrol thefts result in investigations closing with no suspect identified and no action taken. This low detection rate becomes extremely concerning in light of the reported links between forecourt theft and organised crime.
31 of the UK's 45 police forces provided data that contributed to the report. Of those forces, only five constabularies kept reliable records of the value of fuel stolen in their areas. The data provided by forces that did keep records showed that the average loss to filling stations was £49.90 for each MOWP offence.
Rise in number plate thefts prompts police giveaway
Police forces across the UK continue to report frequent thefts of number plates from vehicles. As well as being a nuisance for drivers, stolen plates are often used to commit driving and criminal offences such as toll and fine evasion and petrol theft, as we saw in the previous news item above.
Police in Cannock, Staffs appealed for information and footage from doorbell and CCTV cameras as they responded to reports of multiple thefts of plates from parked cars in the area.
Meanwhile, police in Bolton reacted to increased thefts by offering free anti-tamper kits to drivers.
The ant-tamper kits include special screws that cannot be removed with a standard screwdriver, making it more difficult for would-be thieves to remove plates from cars using the kits. Although the screws can be fitted in seconds with a normal screwdriver, removing them requires a special tool.
Mounting plates with adhesive pads in addition to screws or bolts is another way of making theft much more difficult.
More than 130 "official" number plate suppliers will sell cloned plates
That's the claim made by a group of academics advising the government following an investigation.
Members of Cranfield University's Vehicle Identification Group, an expert group focused on advancing the science of automatic number plate recognition, said that the situation was a risk to law enforcement, road safety and the country’s critical national infrastructure.
The group claimed that anyone can become a DVLA-registered number plate scheme member "on payment of £40.”
They said, “There is no vetting, no trading history requirement and no monitoring of members’ practices.
“To date, we have found over 135 DVLA-registered RNPS members nationally who were prepared to make cloned plates … and there will undoubtedly be more. One West Midlands criminal had recently supplied over 7,000 plates to the criminal underworld.”
The Vehicle Identification Group's findings were submitted to West Bromwich Labour MP Sarah Coombes, who is fronting a private member’s bill that could lead to offending drivers receiving a £1,000 fine, having their vehicle seized and/or being banned from driving. Currently, the most common penalty for using cloned plates is a £100 fine.
The Vehicle Identification Group said that legal registration plates are essential to tax collection, enforcing emission targets, tackling organised crime and even the safe transport of nuclear materials.
A spokesperson said, “Given their importance, it would be reasonable to expect number plates to be governed by a comprehensive, consistent and coherent framework regulating their manufacture and supply,” they write. “Unfortunately, despite many public reports and an abundance of evidence as to its shortcomings, the framework for vehicle registration plates is wholly inadequate.
“It therefore remains our firm view that the current arrangements for the supply and regulation of number plates represent a significant enduring risk, not only to policing and road safety, but also to the critical infrastructure of the country.”
As Regtransfers has reported previously, prosecutors do have a choice of legislation to apply when prosecuting number plate offences. In the past, successful convictions have been brought under the offence of Perverting the Course of Justice - a crime that can carry severe penalties including imprisonment. It is not clear to us why this law is not used more often, rather than introducing yet more legislation.
