Worth the wait…
Tourist gets his Triumph back… five years after it was stolen
German rider Mario Hellwig has been reunited with his Triumph Street Triple five years after it was stolen during a tour of Scotland.
The bike was returned after an investigation by the Greater Manchester Police’s Stolen Vehicle Examination Unit (SVEU), which began working on identifying the bike after it was recovered in September.
The force retrieved the bike after reports of a rider failing to stop in Salford. With no registration, or details on the Police National Computer, an investigation was started to find the true identity of the machine.
“This was pure determination and a team effort to find the owner,” Vehicle Examiner Dave Murphy from GMP’s Stolen Vehicle Examination Unit said.
“With the UK out of the European Union [lack of] direct access to systems from forces in other countries has meant it has been harder for us to track and trace, but with other inventive ways of working and the help of our recovery agents, Mansfield, we were able to return the motorbike to the rider.”
The bike was taken during a visit to Edinburgh, leaving the rider to return home bikeless and out of pocket. The SVEU were called in due to their expertise in examining recovered vehicles that are either suspected stolen or have had their identities altered.
“We have taken great pleasure in giving this story a happy ending,” Murphy added.
The team worked with specialist officers in Europe, who identified the bike as German. From here, GMP contacted Interpol, who contacted the German authorities to speak with Mario. They then provided the correct details, preventing the Triumph from being crushed.
‘This was pure determination, a team effort’