A YOUNG motorist has told how thieves staged a crash to steal her brand new £10,000 car.
The 21-year-old woman got out of her five-week-old Vauxhall Corsa to exchange insurance details after another car had bumped into the back of her car. A passenger from the other car - a dark-coloured coupé - got out and snatched the keys from the victim's hands and got behind the wheel of the Corsa.
The woman chased after the man, tried to drag him out of her car, sounded the horn to raise the alarm and screamed for help. But the man shoved her onto the road before driving off, running over the victim's right ankle, followed by the coupé.
The woman, backed by police, has now appealed for help from the public to catch the culprits following the incident on Moss Bank Way, Johnson Fold, Bolton, at about 6.50pm last Thursday.
The victim, an office worker from Bolton, said: "To be honest, I didn't think about what might happen to me. It was a brand new car and I had my iPod and BlackBerry phone inside it. I was pinching him and beeping the horn and screaming.
"I didn't think that they might be armed. I was just trying to get him out of the car," she said.
The thief is described as white, in his mid 20s, about 5ft 10 in tall, of medium build and wearing dark jeans and a dark coat with a grey hexagon-shaped pattern on it.
The driver of the coupé was white, in his mid 20s, bald and of medium build.
Pc Lee Gridley "It would appear as if this young girl has been deliberately targeted by these men who may well have deliberately caused the collision to entice her out of her car and then steal it.
"This is a cowardly robbery, leaving the victim traumatised and with a nasty injury to her foot as the main thief drove off. This sort of scam is absolutely appalling and we need to stop these men in their tracks before they hurt anyone else.
"I would appeal to anyone who saw this collision or perhaps saw the Corsa and a dark-coloured car being driven in tandem and at speed at about the time of the incident to come forward."
Anyone with information is asked to call the robbery unit on 0161 856 5609 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
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Bertie McGrew , Northern Countryside (30/10/2009 at 13:12)
Nothing is sacred any more and it will continue this way until such time as our political masters, be they in Britain or Europe, see fit to ensure that crime does not pay and that having been caught, the punishment is strong enough to ensure no repeats.
Humiliate thugs, make them the laughing stock of the people at large and then let them rot for a few months. They will seriously think twice before they go out again on a robbing spree. And if they do re-offend make sure the punishment is seriously hard physical labour. If they wont learn the easy way, they will learn the hard way. Human rights? - What about the victim's human rights?
If you break the Law you should forfeit your "human rights" - the Law will protect those who are truly innocent in 99% of cases - and yes I wouldnt want to be the 1% either but the current system is failing everyone but the criminals and it needs to change.
In the Old Days Lancashire Police merely hung you from the nearest Lampost for breathing out of turn - good days!