Bike thefts to blame for crime figures hike

Police say theft of bikes is the main factor behind an increase of almost 20 per cent in common theft cases in Stirling.

Latest figures show that between April 1 and September 30, the category saw 285 cases - an increase from 239 in the same quarter in 2018.

It constituted a rise of 19.2 per cent and was 5.1 per cent higher than the five-year average. The detection rate was just 28.8 per cent. At a meeting of Stirling Council’s public safety committee last Thursday, councillors heard that cyclists were among many of the victims of the crimes.

Green councillor Alasdair Tollemache asked police if they still had a scheme for security marking of bikes.

Area commander for Stirling, Chief Inspector Gill Marshall said: “It is something we still do. We ran a bike-marking scheme at Christmas, which is often a time people are receiving bikes as presents. The bike is stamped and marked but also do a bike ‘passport’ so people have a record of the serial number. We give them that in a document so if the bike is lost or stolen they have a record of it.

“The plan moving forward is to do marking events in public places so people can bring their bikes along.”

Motorists have also been targeted, with thefts of and from cars going from eight cases to 21 in the quarter - a rise of 162.5 per cent.

Motor vehicle crimes in general (up from 84 to 104, a 23.8 per cent increase) were said to have contributed to an increase in crimes of dishonesty of 3.4 per cent - up from 811 to 867. Police said people leaving cars unlocked for extended periods of time had contributed to the rise.