Warwickshire family offerd reward after thief posts video in their stolen motorhome
A FAMILY say they’re devastated after their motorhome was stolen from outside their home near Alcester.
CCTV footage outside their house in Coughton shows a man breaking into the vehicle before driving it away in the early hours of Wednesday, 8th May.
After becoming frustrated when no one from Warwickshire Police came to view the footage for a week, despite it being reported on 9th May, the family decided to publicise the theft widely, in a bid to make the vehicle “too hot to handle”.
They’ve offered a £500 reward and called on the public to help them find the vehicle, which has a burgundy cab and white body covered in bird motifs.
Tip-offs have poured in, with several sightings of the stolen motorhome, registration number FX09 OAJ.
It was spotted on Friday, 10th May parked outside the Bulls Head in Earlswood, just 10 miles from the family home.
The next time it appeared was four miles up the road at Monkspath in Shirley.
A man filmed himself touring the inside the family’s motorhome and posted the video on Snapchat, which automatically deletes posts after a set time.
But he didn’t realise he’d also accidentally filmed his own reflection in a wall mirror.
Mum-of-three Charlotte, who works for the NHS, said: “In the Snapchat video he’s walking around the motorhome and he looks in the mirror.
“We managed to screenshot it and it’s very blurry but quite good.”
The motorhome is usually kept behind gates, but that night it was parked on their drive.
Although there for less than 48 hours, when they woke the following morning it had vanished.
“We looked on the CCTV and could see this bloke who looked like he was in his 20s – it took him eight minutes to get into the motorhome.
“We think he must have had professional kit, because on the Snapchat video nothing looks broken.
“He just walks up on his own, breaks in and drives off.”
She added: “We’ve got holidays planned this summer but now we can’t go.
“It’s absolutely devastating that someone can just creep onto your property and drive off with something like that.”
Warwickshire Police’s Stratford inspector, Ben Hembry, said: “We are investigating a report of a theft of a motorhome from Coughton on Wednesday, 8th May.
“Officers have been to visit the victim. We have gathered evidence from them and we are using that to assist in our investigation.
“We’re currently working with our colleagues at West Midlands Police to see the motorhome returned and a suspect caught.
“If you see what you believe to be a stolen vehicle parked up, please call 999 straight away so officers can respond accordingly.”
