Bohemia Village Voice

By John Humphries (Nov 2006)

A man was seen rummaging through an Aldborough Road resident’s dustbin on Tuesday of this week. He was chased up the road but wasn’t caught. “It might have been an attempt at identity theft,” said Vic Chalcraft, a neighbour, who reported the incident. “It’s the third time in about eight weeks that this has happened. My own rubbish bags were torn open and the contents strewn all over the road. It’s definitely not seagulls.”

COMMENTS

Dear Sir, you printed a story recently about identity theft. [the item, in issue 41, raised the possibility that rubbish bags were being torn open to find documents which could be used to establish a false identity]. It’s not identity theft, it’s unwanted goods they’re after. It’s a couple who live in the Kings Road area. They look out for ‘For Sale’ boards outside properties, then they target these houses, usually on a Saturday night, hoping to find bags containing stuff which people have chucked out prior to moving house. One of the couple slits open black bags and they rummage through the contents hoping to find something that can be sold. The booty then appears next morning at the Ivy House Lane boot fair. I’ve actually seen some of my own stuff appear there. Sometimes they take the bags into an alleyway, slit them open with a Stanley knife and sort them out there, before transferring the booty to their van. I’ve often seen them around the Horntye Road area. Horntye Road Resident – name withheld. (Dec 2006)