UK: Fake plates arrest in Kent
Kent Police have arrested and charged a man in connection with the sale of fake number plates after an investigation and the search of several business premises. The investigation followed reports that criminals were being supplied with fake plates.
George Cowley, aged 46, of Mountside Close, Gravesend, was arrested and charged with conspiracy to steal vehicles and with making an article, namely a false vehicle registration plate, knowing that it was to be designed or adapted in connection with fraud.
Mr Cowley will appear at Maidstone Crown Court on 12 September. Meanwhile, a second man, aged 26 and from Northfleet, was bailed while further enquiries continue, according to Kent Police.
USA: ANPR company criticised over use of data pauses federal pilot schemes
Flock Safety, a leading provider of security and automated number plate recognition systems, has paused pilot schemes involving federal agencies in the USA. The move comes after the company was criticised for permitting inappropriate access by law enforcement to data captured by Flock's ANPR systems.
While the data concerned is not owned by Flock, but by the local agencies in whose jurisdictions the cameras are operated, Flock's failure to implement adequate safeguards to prevent inappropriate access by agencies has attracted criticism.
In a widely reported recent case, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias stated that an audit showed that Customs and Border Protection had accessed Illinois data. Although Giannoulias did not say that the CBP was specifically looking for immigration-related information, the implication is clearly that such use was a possibility.
An Illinois law passed in 2023 prohibits sharing license plate data with police investigating out-of-state abortions or undocumented immigrants.
Two months earlier, Giannoulias announced that Chicago police had shared data with a Texas sheriff who was seeking a missing woman. The woman’s family was concerned for her wellbeing because she had undergone a self-administered abortion.
The Texas sheriff in Johnson County, Texas, stated that he was just attempting to help the family locate the missing woman for her own safety, but Secretary of State Giannoulias demanded that Flock Safety be more vigilant because of the abortion connection.
Flock has admitted that safeguards and communication were inadequate, and has said that additional measures have since been implemented. Several agencies have terminated contracts with the company.
Spain: Number plate robbery gets rough
The Civil Guard in the Spanish municipality of Calpe arrested a 56-year-old man for allegedly committing approximately thirty number plate thefts in the space of a single week. A court ordered the man's release on bail "with precautionary measures".
The suspect was arrested following a complaint from a neighbour that the suspect had been attempting to remove the licence plates from the neighbour's car. The suspect was challenged by the vehicle's owner and a tussle ensued. Despite the struggle, the neighbour was unable to stop the alleged perpetrator from taking the number plates.
Officers from the Calpe Civil Guard Investigation Unit arrested the suspect quickly and a search of his home took place, during which a considerable number of number plates and number plate holders were found. Examination of the items linked the suspect to several more plate thefts.
Amongst the evidence gathered were a number of foreign number plates and a selection of tools for removing the plates.
Although his motive remains unclear, the accused man is charged with 26 counts of theft and one count of robbery with violence.
Australia: Heritage plates command hefty prices in Victoria auction
An auction of three, four, five and six-digit ‘heritage’ number plates attracted some big bids on 2 September. The numbers, sold in the Australian state of Victoria, differ significantly from UK private registrations, as the physical plates constitute part of the value. The numbers sold at the recent auction were part of a range of numbers supplied on handcrafted enamel replicas of 1930s-style vintage plates. The range of these coveted numbers comprises 285,000 Victoria combinations.
The sale attracted approximately 500 bidders to the venue, the grand ballroom of the Park Hyatt in Melbourne. Additional bidders participated online, while other registered bidders tuned in online from across Victoria, interstate, and as far away as Italy, Greece, France and the United States.
The winning bids are shown below. Amounts are in Australian dollars (AUD) with approximate sterling conversions in brackets.
- Plate 488 sold for $650,000 (£316,877)
- Plate 899 sold for $600,000 (£292,484)
- Plate 6006 sold for $210,000 (£102,369)
- Plate 9559 sold for $200,000 (£97,492)
- Plate 5656 sold for $174,000 (£84,801)
- Plate 48888 sold for $170,000 (£82,852)
- Plate 16000 sold for $165,000 (£80,398)
- Plate 3020 sold for $160,000 (£77,961)
- Plate 1013 sold for $150,000 (£73,086)
- Plate 90900 sold for $130,000 (£63,336)
- Plate 55550 sold for $110,000 (£53,592)
- Plate 32323 sold for $104,000 (£50,668)
- Plate 100788 sold for $31,000 (£15,101)
- Plate 100811 sold for $31,000 (£15,101)
- Plate 100661 sold for $29,000 (£14,126)
- Plate 100989 sold for $27,000 (£13,151)
The record holders for most expensive heritage plates sold in Victoria are the two-digit numbers 14, which sold for $2.38 million (£1,346,485) in 2022, and 20, which sold for $2.54 million (£1,321,384) in 2024.
The most expensive number plate ever sold in Australia is New South Wales number 1, which sold for a staggering $12.4 million (£6,439,044) in 2024, making it the 7th most expensive number in the world at the time of writing.
Hong Kong: Porsche driver persecuted for ‘political’ number plates
Porsche fan Anthony Chiu had to send his car overseas following sustained harassment by authorities. Mr Chiu has been a Porsche lover since he was a child and always dreamed of owning a 1989 Porsche 964. While he did get his Porsche, it wasn't the exact model he coveted, so Mr Chiu bought a number plate that bore a reference to the elusive 964 model. His US 8964 plate soon attracted the attention of authorities.
Read from right to left, 8964 is the date of the infamous Tiananmen crackdown, which occurred in Beijing, China on June 4, 1989, after several months of protest demonstrations. Estimates indicate that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people died when the People’s Liberation Army took aggressive action against protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997, after it had been a post-colonial British Dependent Territory. In 2020, the Chinese government imposed a national security law in Hong Kong. This resulted in police stopping events such as the annual candlelight vigil held in Hong Kong's Victoria Park to mark the events in Tiananmen Square.
In 2022, police stopped Anthony Chiu in his car near Victoria Park on the Tiananmen anniversary. In subsequent years, driving his car on June 4 earned him similar attention. On June 4, 2023, police impounded his car in Causeway Bay, claiming there were issues with the embossed number plate and the brakes. On 2024’s Tiananmen anniversary, Chiu was stopped again and his car was towed away.
Mr. Chiu and his family were subjected to a year-long campaign of harassment, including anonymous letters containing his personal information, photos of his car, and accusations that he may have violated the national security law. The letters were sent to his home, his workplace and his daughter’s school. The letters, seen by HKFP, contained his personal information, photos of his sports car, and accusations that he may have violated the national security law.
The harassment Chiu faced was reminiscent of the threats encountered by dozens of local journalists last year, when they received emails and letters containing defamatory content at their homes, workplaces, and other locations.
According to Chiu, he had filed reports with the police and the privacy watchdog about the harassment, but due to the anonymous nature of the letters, there was little the authorities could do.
Eventually, Mr Chiu had enough. He, his family and his car have since relocated to the UK.
