Latest news with #Gibson
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Business Standard
8 hours ago
- Automotive
- Business Standard
UK car theft crisis near 15-year high as manufacturers face high-tech gangs
To the untrained eye, the red shipping container at Felixstowe looked no different to the thousands of others stacked up at Britain's busiest seaport. Destined for Africa, its contents were listed as 'household goods,' but to police officer Adam Gibson, something didn't add up. So workers broke into the container. Gibson was right. Inside were four sport utility vehicles—three Toyota RAV 4s and a Lexus RX 450h. Two were on the ground and the others were dangling from the roof, squeezed in like Tetris blocks. After they were lifted out on a forklift, Gibson ran checks. The cars were all stolen and their license plates had been changed. The thieves he's up against are not just opportunists or joyriders. Most vehicle theft nowadays is orchestrated by organized gangs cashing in on overseas demand for SUVs. And with numbers climbing, police have struggled to stop it: for each stolen car Gibson and his colleagues intercept, he estimates that another nine slip through their fingers. 'It's not amateurs that are playing at this,' Gibson said. 'This is proper business.' As cars have become increasingly high-tech, a technological arms race has also kicked off between manufacturers and thieves. Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that 58 per cent of vehicle thefts in England and Wales in the year ending April 2024 happened with the help of 'signal-jammers'—electronic tools capable of disrupting remote locking devices. That was up from 40 per cent the previous year. Toyota, which also owns Lexus, said theft in recent years had reached 'almost epidemic proportion in the UK.' In response, carmakers have introduced keyless technology that 'goes to sleep' when not in use, trackers to keep tabs on a stolen vehicle's location and other security measures. Toyota said it's invested millions in combatting signal jammers, which can cost as much as £30,000 apiece. Jaguar Land Rover, whose luxury SUVs are so attractive to thieves that insurance companies have been reluctant to cover them, recently rolled out a software upgrade for some models that makes it impossible to drive a car without having its keys. 'It's like a game of tennis,' Gibson said. 'Criminals come out with a new bit of kit, manufacturers will get round it, sometimes by buying it on the dark web and reverse-engineering it. But five minutes later, once they've stopped it, they've come out with a new bit of kit.' By the time a stolen car arrives at a port, owners have usually already filed a claim with insurers, which tend to quickly write off a vehicle and pay up. Those hoping to recover their cars, however, stand the best chance of doing so while they're still in the UK. Even if trackers do locate the vehicle abroad, it can be difficult to get a foreign country's authorities to collaborate, and repatriation costs are not cheap. According to data from NaVCIS and analysts at Thatcham Research, nearly 40 per cent of stolen cars intercepted at British ports between 2021 and 2024 were destined for the Democratic Republic of Congo, whose centralized location and access to seaports makes it a good hub for distributing cars across Africa. An additional 20 per cent were headed to the United Arab Emirates, which saw normal delivery channels disrupted last year following a flood. Almost 7 per cent were to be sent to Cyprus and nearly 6 per cent to Jamaica, both countries where cars drive on the left, like in the UK. Another 5 per cent were headed to Georgia, which offers easy access to Russia, where cars are sold on the black market to bypass international sanctions. At Felixstowe, Gibson relies on intuition and red flags to spot suspicious shipments. A container registered to a person associated with previous criminal activity might set off an alarm, for instance, as would a container that's heavier or lighter than its listed contents suggest. Yet with around 60,000 containers moving through UK ports every day, gangs exploit the fact that the vast majority of them will never be checked. 'They know there's a very slim chance of actually being caught,' said Simon Hurr, a vehicle security expert at Ford. And among those who were caught and charged with vehicle theft between 2022 and 2023, the conviction rate was just 2 per cent. Alongside Gibson, NaVCIS employs just two other patrol officers to cover four ports in the south of England, and about nine additional office staff. After the Home Office cut support for the agency, it has relied entirely on private funding—primarily from the Finance & Leasing Association, the trade body for motor finance—to cover its costs. As car theft has become more organized, however, 'policing hasn't kept pace,' said Mark Kameen, project lead for the recently established National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership (NVCRP). The joint initiative, put together by police, the Home Office and automakers like JLR and Toyota, helps coordinate the response to vehicle thefts, including by organizing raids on gangs. While owners are compensated when their cars are taken, vehicle theft isn't a victimless crime. The more cars are stolen, the more insurance premiums go up. In the first three months of the year, British car owners were quoted an average of almost £800 a year for insurance—down from a peak 18 months ago but still far higher than the historical average. The government has taken steps to crack down on car theft. As well as helping set up and fund the NVCRP, it proposed measures in February that would impose a maximum sentence of five years in prison on anyone in possession of a signal jammer. Carmakers are also starting to see their own efforts pay off. JLR said the theft rate of its vehicles has fallen by over 50 per cent since it introduced new security measures in November 2022, and that fewer than four out of every 1,000 of its new cars are stolen. Toyota carried out its own trial last year, fitting some cars with tracking systems. Of those that went missing, 96 per cent were recovered thanks to the trackers, the company said. It now plans to roll them out in certain models as an optional feature. These changes have also had ripple effects on the black market, according to Gibson. While SUVs are still most in demand, he's noticed a move away from luxury vehicles. 'Five years ago, it was Range Rovers, BMW X5s, high-end Mercedes. In the last two or three years, we've started to see Hyundais, Kias and Toyotas.' Cutting open his final container after a busy day at Felixstowe, Gibson discovers a mess of valuable car parts alongside a more curious item: a London ambulance that he suspects is on its way to Ukraine. It's hauled out with a forklift, revealing chopped-up cars stuffed in back of the container that can be sold on for parts. More valuable components are crammed into the ambulance to make use of the space. Gibson's work here is finished. What happens next is up to the insurer.
The Star
8 hours ago
- Automotive
- The Star
UK car theft crisis pits manufacturers against high-tech gangs
To the untrained eye, the red shipping container at Felixstowe looked no different to the thousands of others stacked up at Britain's busiest seaport. Destined for Africa, its contents were listed as 'household goods,' but to police officer Adam Gibson, something didn't add up. So workers broke into the container. Gibson was right. Inside were four sport utility vehicles – three Toyota RAV 4s and a Lexus RX 450h. Two were on the ground and the others were dangling from the roof, squeezed in like Tetris blocks. After they were lifted out on a forklift, Gibson ran checks. The cars were all stolen and their license plates had been changed. Car theft is a growing problem in the UK. Almost 130,000 vehicles were stolen in the year ending March 2024 – near a 15-year high – costing insurers £640mil (RM 3.67 bil), according to the most recent data. And at least some of them are ending up overseas. As one of the few specialist officers at the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NaVCIS), an industry-funded police unit focused on car-related crime, Gibson's job is to scour containers and keep stolen cars from leaving the country. The thieves he's up against are not just opportunists or joyriders. Most vehicle theft nowadays is orchestrated by organised gangs cashing in on overseas demand for SUVs. And with numbers climbing, police have struggled to stop it: for each stolen car Gibson and his colleagues intercept, he estimates that another nine slip through their fingers. 'It's not amateurs that are playing at this,' Gibson said. 'This is proper business.' As cars have become increasingly high-tech, a technological arms race has also kicked off between manufacturers and thieves. Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that 58% of vehicle thefts in England and Wales in the year ending April 2024 happened with the help of 'signal-jammers' – electronic tools capable of disrupting remote locking devices. That was up from 40% the previous year. Toyota, which also owns Lexus, said theft in recent years had reached 'almost epidemic proportion in the UK'. In response, carmakers have introduced keyless technology that 'goes to sleep' when not in use, trackers to keep tabs on a stolen vehicle's location and other security measures. Toyota said it's invested millions in combatting signal jammers, which can cost as much as £30,000 (RM 172,143) apiece. Jaguar Land Rover, whose luxury SUVs are so attractive to thieves that insurance companies have been reluctant to cover them, recently rolled out a software upgrade for some models that makes it impossible to drive a car without having its keys. 'It's like a game of tennis,' Gibson said. 'Criminals come out with a new bit of kit, manufacturers will get round it, sometimes by buying it on the dark web and reverse-engineering it. But five minutes later, once they've stopped it, they've come out with a new bit of kit.' By the time a stolen car arrives at a port, owners have usually already filed a claim with insurers, which tend to quickly write off a vehicle and pay up. Those hoping to recover their cars, however, stand the best chance of doing so while they're still in the UK. Even if trackers do locate the vehicle abroad, it can be difficult to get a foreign country's authorities to collaborate, and repatriation costs are not cheap. According to data from NaVCIS and analysts at Thatcham Research, nearly 40% of stolen cars intercepted at British ports between 2021 and 2024 were destined for the Democratic Republic of Congo, whose centralised location and access to seaports makes it a good hub for distributing cars across Africa. An additional 20% were headed to the United Arab Emirates, which saw normal delivery channels disrupted last year following a flood. Almost 7% were to be sent to Cyprus and nearly 6% to Jamaica, both countries where cars drive on the left, like in the UK. Another 5% were headed to Georgia, which offers easy access to Russia, where cars are sold on the black market to bypass international sanctions. At Felixstowe, Gibson relies on intuition and red flags to spot suspicious shipments. A container registered to a person associated with previous criminal activity might set off an alarm, for instance, as would a container that's heavier or lighter than its listed contents suggest. Yet with around 60,000 containers moving through UK ports every day, gangs exploit the fact that the vast majority of them will never be checked. 'They know there's a very slim chance of actually being caught,' said Simon Hurr, a vehicle security expert at Ford. And among those who were caught and charged with vehicle theft between 2022 and 2023, the conviction rate was just 2%. Alongside Gibson, NaVCIS employs just two other patrol officers to cover four ports in the south of England, and about nine additional office staff. After the Home Office cut support for the agency, it has relied entirely on private funding – primarily from the Finance & Leasing Association, the trade body for motor finance – to cover its costs. As car theft has become more organised, however, 'policing hasn't kept pace,' said Mark Kameen, project lead for the recently established National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership (NVCRP). The joint initiative, put together by police, the Home Office and automakers like JLR and Toyota, helps coordinate the response to vehicle thefts, including by organising raids on gangs. While owners are compensated when their cars are taken, vehicle theft isn't a victimless crime. The more cars are stolen, the more insurance premiums go up. In the first three months of the year, British car owners were quoted an average of almost £800 (RM4,590) a year for insurance – down from a peak 18 months ago but still far higher than the historical average. The government has taken steps to crack down on car theft. As well as helping set up and fund the NVCRP, it proposed measures in February that would impose a maximum sentence of five years in prison on anyone in possession of a signal jammer. Carmakers are also starting to see their own efforts pay off. JLR said the theft rate of its vehicles has fallen by over 50% since it introduced new security measures in November 2022, and that fewer than four out of every 1,000 of its new cars are stolen. Toyota carried out its own trial last year, fitting some cars with tracking systems. Of those that went missing, 96% were recovered thanks to the trackers, the company said. It now plans to roll them out in certain models as an optional feature. These changes have also had ripple effects on the black market, according to Gibson. While SUVs are still most in demand, he's noticed a move away from luxury vehicles. 'Five years ago, it was Range Rovers, BMW X5s, high-end Mercedes. In the last two or three years, we've started to see Hyundais, Kias and Toyotas.' Cutting open his final container after a busy day at Felixstowe, Gibson discovers a mess of valuable car parts alongside a more curious item: a London ambulance that he suspects is on its way to Ukraine. It's hauled out with a forklift, revealing chopped-up cars stuffed in back of the container that can be sold on for parts. More valuable components are crammed into the ambulance to make use of the space. Gibson's work here is finished. What happens next is up to the insurer. – Bloomberg
The Citizen
a day ago
- Science
- The Citizen
Fascination of the Dome's geological wonder explored
Whether it is scientific, curiosity, historical, or cultural interest, ecotourism, or adventure activities, the Vredefort Dome has something special to offer each visitor. The site's importance and value in promoting desired tourism activities and contributing to the research by geological scientists from all over the world, cannot be overlooked. Although not proclaimed as a World Heritage Site in terms of South African law yet, it has been inscribed on the Unesco World Heritage List since 2005, being the oldest, largest and most deeply eroded complex meteorite impact structure in the world – nearly twice as big as the impact that killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Yet many tourists do not know what to expect when visiting the Vredefort Dome World Heritage Site, says Prof. Rodger Gibson from Wits University's School of Geological Sciences. Having spent many years researching the Vredefort Impact and as co-writer of the book Meteorite Impact, he found that people often mistakenly think they will be able to see the impact as a hole in the ground. Yet the uniqueness of the Vredefort Dome World Heritage Site lies in the geological wonder. Eager to learn and explore these geological wonders, 37 participants from the Gauteng, Free State, and Northwest provinces joined an excursion in the Vredefort Dome on Saturday, led by Gibson and organised by the Dome Conservancy. The geological uniqueness seen here in the Dome is a result of rivers that, over many hundreds of millions of years, eroded the sides of the crater and most of the cooled melt-rock. This exposed the rocks that once lay underneath the crater. Today, the rocks in the Vredefort Dome are exposed in several rings. The oldest rocks that were buried deep within the crust before the impact event are found in the centre. These are mostly granite gneisses over 3 000 million years old. Parys and Vredefort are built on these gneisses that have been mined for their stone in many quarries. The hills of the Vredefort mountain range are made of hard white quartzite rock, with the valleys in between made of softer shale. Some thin layers containing a little gold were once mined from these rocks near Venterskroon. Beyond the hills towards Potchefstroom and Fochville lie softer lava and dolomite rocks that form flatter land. All these rocks form part of the Vredefort Dome. Only a small part of the Vredefort Dome along the Vaal River, between Parys/ Potchefstroom and Vredefort/ Potchefstroom roads, has been declared a World Heritage Site. Gibson, on Saturday, first gave an introduction to the South African geology and the Vredefort Dome impact at the Salvamento granite quarry at Kopjeskraal. At the granite quarry, one can see extraordinary examples of Pseudotachylite, which is a glassy or fine-grained rock formation from brecciation followed by the melting of granite. Broken up granite blocks could be seen in between these Pseudotachylite breccias. At Schurwedraai, the uniqueness of the rock formations in the Dome and the various unique mineral compositions in the rocks were explained. Gibson also explained the impact of the ice age and glaciers' movements on the Dome landscape about 300 million years ago. Evidence of shock is an important feature of a meteorite impact event, and this evidence was shown in the shatter cones that could be seen in the Booysens shale at Rooderand. Shatter cones are cone-like, or striated fractures in rocks, that were formed due to the extreme shock wave that went through the rock formations during the time of the impact. These shatter cones can be seen throughout the first impact ring, also known as the Vredefort Dome Mountain Land. The last point of interest visited was the Vredefort Granophyre Dyke at Daskop. Granophyre is an impact melt rock composed of irregular intergrowths of quartz and feldspar minerals and was formed during the impact. This Granophyre Dyke is an important archaeological site dating back to the first Bushmen who were hunting here. According to archaeologists, this was a rain-making site, as can be illustrated through the series of petroglyphs, or rock engravings. Some of these petroglyphs are over 6000 years old. The excursion gave a fascinating perspective on the geology of the Dome days before the GeoCongress in Bloemfontein. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Global News
3 days ago
- Global News
Small gathering lays ashes of wrongfully convicted man to rest, as family seeks probe
In a quiet grove at the edge of a Halifax cemetery, the family of a wrongfully convicted man laid his remains to rest, and said his fight for justice lives on. Glen Assoun died June 14, 2023, but the family postponed interring his ashes until a gathering Monday, presided over by Rev. David Watt, a Baptist minister who stood by his friend over the years. 'We laid him here to rest …. But I feel like the real rest will happen when we have a resolution and some people are held accountable,' said his daughter Amanda Huckle, following the small gathering. In March 2019, a Nova Scotia court acquitted Assoun in the 1995 killing of his ex-girlfriend, Brenda Lee Way. During 17 years in prison and five years under strict bail conditions, Assoun developed heart illnesses and suffered from mental illnesses. He only received a compensation settlement from the federal and provincial governments about two years before he died at the age of 67. Story continues below advertisement Almost five years ago, the province requested the police oversight body begin a formal probe into whether officers broke the law when they destroyed evidence relevant to Assoun's case. In March 2021, the Nova Scotia police watchdog announced that to ensure transparency, its counterpart in British Columbia had agreed to be on the investigation. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy But on Nov. 30, 2023, Nova Scotia's agency announced the B.C. watchdog had dropped the case due to a heavy workload. Since then, the agency has reached out to multiple police oversight bodies and has struggled to find one that will take the case. 2:13 Wrongful murder conviction report of Glen Assoun released Erin Nauss, the director of the Serious Incident Response Team, said in an email Monday that she had 'hoped to have an update,' but isn't yet in a position to share information about the next steps. 'I want to assure you that my focus and our work on moving this investigation forward has not wavered. I will provide an update when there is more to say,' she wrote. Story continues below advertisement Huckle said the family's expectations aren't wavering, as this is an important part of how they can move forward. 'This (interment) is closure for us in some aspects but there's still that lingering door that is still open,' she said. During the ceremony, Assoun's ashes were placed in a marble bench inscribed with the Gibson guitars he loved to play. Family members each touched the sides of the enclosure. Tanya Assoun, his eldest daughter, read an April 19, 2009, letter he'd written to her from prison, telling her he missed her and advising, 'Be strong and think positive … set your bar high. Through the grace of God justice will prevail.' 'He always wanted the best for me,' she said after the service. 'Even though he was in prison, he would always say those things to me.' During the gathering, Watt read Bible verses and recalled 'the blessing of memories,' including sitting and eating meals with Assoun, who was his roommate for two years after his release. As the group walked away from the secluded spot, Watt said his friend would have liked the nature path and the tranquil spot where his bench is set. The only sound through the day was of a slight June breeze. Amanda Huckle agreed. 'My Dad deserved peace. He deserves this peace,' she said. Story continues below advertisement
Hamilton Spectator
3 days ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Small gathering lays ashes of wrongfully convicted man to rest, as family seeks probe
HALIFAX - In a quiet grove at the edge of a Halifax cemetery, the family of a wrongfully convicted man laid his remains to rest, and said his fight for justice lives on. Glen Assoun died June 14, 2023, but the family postponed interring his ashes until a gathering Monday, presided over by Rev. David Watt, a Baptist minister who stood by his friend over the years. 'We laid him here to rest .... But I feel like the real rest will happen when we have a resolution and some people are held accountable,' said his daughter Amanda Huckle, following the small gathering. In March 2019, a Nova Scotia court acquitted Assoun in the 1995 killing of his ex-girlfriend, Brenda Lee Way. During 17 years in prison and five years under strict bail conditions, Assoun developed heart illnesses and suffered from mental illnesses. He only received a compensation settlement from the federal and provincial governments about two years before he died at the age of 67. Almost five years ago, the province requested the police oversight body begin a formal probe into whether officers broke the law when they destroyed evidence relevant to Assoun's case. In March 2021, the Nova Scotia police watchdog announced that to ensure transparency, its counterpart in British Columbia had agreed to be on the investigation. But on Nov. 30, 2023, Nova Scotia's agency announced the B.C. watchdog had dropped the case due to a heavy workload. Since then, the agency has reached out to multiple police oversight bodies and has struggled to find one that will take the case. Erin Nauss, the director of the Serious Incident Response Team, said in an email Monday that she had 'hoped to have an update,' but isn't yet in a position to share information about the next steps. 'I want to assure you that my focus and our work on moving this investigation forward has not wavered. I will provide an update when there is more to say,' she wrote. Huckle said the family's expectations aren't wavering, as this is an important part of how they can move forward. 'This (interment) is closure for us in some aspects but there's still that lingering door that is still open,' she said. During the ceremony, Assoun's ashes were placed in a marble bench inscribed with the Gibson guitars he loved to play. Family members each touched the sides of the enclosure. Tanya Assoun, his eldest daughter, read an April 19, 2009, letter he'd written to her from prison, telling her he missed her and advising, 'Be strong and think positive ... set your bar high. Through the grace of God justice will prevail.' 'He always wanted the best for me,' she said after the service. 'Even though he was in prison, he would always say those things to me.' During the gathering, Watt read Bible verses and recalled 'the blessing of memories,' including sitting and eating meals with Assoun, who was his roommate for two years after his release. As the group walked away from the secluded spot, Watt said his friend would have liked the nature path and the tranquil spot where his bench is set. The only sound through the day was of a slight June breeze. Amanda Huckle agreed. 'My Dad deserved peace. He deserves this peace,' she said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 17, 2025. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
