Bag of coins left at the scene of a burglary. Are they yours?

A burglary occurred at an address in St Catherine's Rd, Littlehampton during Wednesday 6th January. Entry was gained to the address via an insecure rear door. Once inside the premises, the burglar searched a number of rooms and stole £220 in cash, a black purse and a Natwest cheque book and card. The householder did find a small cloth drawstring bag which contained a number of old coins which had not come from the property.


Sgt Peter Allan of Littlehampton Police said, "Sadly this latest burglary is another reminder that the offender is able to gain access via insecure doors. I would like to remind people that doors should be locked at all times, even if you are at home. I would also ask anyone who owns a cloth drawstring bag of old coins to check that they are still where they were last seen. Due to the nature of some of the items stolen in previous offences, it has been some time before the owners realised their loss.

" If anyone has any information in relation to this burglary please contact DC Jamie Carruthers of Littlehampton CID, or calls can be made anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."

Assault in Howard Rd, Littlehampton. Can you help?

At 5pm on Friday 29th January a group of youths assaulted a 16yr old local boy in Howard Rd, Littlehampton. Two of the youths punched the aggrieved in the face causing his nose to bleed before making off on foot towards Harwood Rd. The aggrieved who has ginger hair and was wearing a black coat and carrying a blue rucksack at the time describes his assailants as: 1) wearing a white hoodie with black stripes 2) wearing a grey hoodie 3) wearing a white hoodie. If anyone has information that will lead to the identification of these youths, please contact PC Nandu at Littlehampton Police Station.

Coins (no longer in circulation) stolen from burglary in Wick.

Between 1400hrs and 1630hrs on 29/01/2010 a burglary dwelling occurred at an address in Toddington Lane, Wick, Littlehampton. Entry was gained by forcing the rear patio doors with an unknown implement. An untidy search was made of the whole property, pulling out drawers and emptying cupboards, leaving items strewn across the floor.


The items stolen include mainly cash, which is unidentifiable. There are however a number of coins which are no longer legal tender which are as follows:

- 5x old style £2 coins. These are £2 coins that are bronze in colour only. No silver centre as with current £2 coins.
- 1x original 1st Edition Queen Elizabeth era £50 note.
- 1x silver Victorian Crown coin
- 5x commemorative £5 coins - one relating to "Concorde". The other contain colour on them (other than the standard silver colour of a coin).

If you have any information in relation to this burglary please contact PC Jason Berney of Littlehampton Police, or calls can be made anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."

Motorcycle stolen at knifepoint.

At approximately 1730hrs on Friday 29th January 2010 a motorcycle was stolen at knifepoint from its owner in Selborne Road , Littlehampton . The owner was with his motorcycle when he noticed a male approach him from North Place. The male is described as being white, 5''7" tall, aged between 30-40, medium build, wearing a dark coloured puffer jacket, black beanie style woollen hat and light coloured trainers. The victim was assaulted by this male, sustaining a graze to his lower left jawline, and he saw that the offender had a knife.

The motorcycle, a black and orange Suzuki DR350SE-X index T463 WPN was stolen. The offender made off in the direction of Norfolk Road and was not wearing a crash helmet.

Sgt Peter Allan of Littlehampton Police said, "We are keen to speak to anyone who was in the area at the time or anyone who saw a motorcycle being ridden by a rider who was not wearing a crash helmet."

A small dark hatchback car was seen to drive out of North Place immediately after the bike made off, in the same direction, with a single male occupant.

Police wish to speak to the driver of that vehicle to establish if he witnessed the robbery and eliminate him from their enquiries.

If you have any information please contact DC DH041 Hannard on 0845 6070999, or alternatively you can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

'Informed' and 'Involved'.

'Informed' and 'Involved' are two of my most used words. I want to inform our communities about what's going on locally; what we are doing about it and explain to them how they can become involved in placing their priorities for action on the agenda.

We have many ways of keeping communities informed:

Website, Surgeries, posters, Neighbourhood Management Forums, Neighbourhood Watch messaging system, Dog Watch, various local media outlets, Farm Watch, Team Newsletter and more recently, Twitter, to name a few.

I have decided to replace our Team Newsletter with my new blog which can be found at:

http://sgtpeterallan.blogspot.com/

Why the change?

I am really proud of our Newsletter and the part it played in keeping our communities 'Informed and Involved'. I am extremely grateful for the many comments I have received about its content, thank you. I found when it came round to publication time that I was faced with difficult editorial decisions- what's in and what's out. Some pieces were new and others had been in the public domain for a number of days, if not weeks. On occasions I made decisions not to publish some features, so as to not make the finished product too long.

I see my blog bringing the benefits of the same professional look (although I am still getting my head around adding photographs and other gadgets), with news and stories being published as they happen, without waiting weeks for the next edition.

I would, at this point like to single out and thank, PC Dan Bridger who was the technical master behind putting the newsletter together in such a professional format. Thanks Dan.

Please take a look and follow me.

There is a poll contained within the blog and I would really value your views. Please take a look and cast your vote. The poll has been live on Twitter for three weeks and will close on 30th January. I shall publish the results shortly afterwards.

You can find my poll by accessing the link below or via Twitter or my blog:

http://twtpoll.com/m0cn6c

There are so many different ways for people to keep up to date. The world and technology is forever changing. I want to finish by saying that although we are making best use of the many forms of media available, they are not, should not and will not replace the locally accountable, visible and accessible police.

To find out who your local officers are you can visit our website at www.sussex.police.uk or contact your local police station. You will notice that staff's voicemail numbers have been replaced by individual mobile telephone numbers, making it easier to speak to your local officer.

Calls for immediate or prompt police assistance to an incident should continue to be made by calling 999 or 0845 60 70 999.

Thanks for your continued support. Let us know what you think about policing in your area.

Peter Allan

ASBO to curb anti social behaviour of Littlehampton girl in three West Sussex towns.

On the 13th January 2010 it was confirmed at Chichester Magistrates’ Court that Laura WATSON(18) of Gloucester Road, Littlehampton is subject to a 2 year ASBO to protect the community from her significant and persistent anti-social behaviour in Littlehampton, Bognor Regis and Worthing.

The ASBO which expires on 16th October 2011 imposes the following prohibitions on Laura’s movements and behaviour. Laura is not to:

1) Use or incite others to use threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour in any place to which the public has access which causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

2) Enter the area known as Mariners’ Quay, Littlehampton which includes the roads as defined on the accompanying map (MAP 1). The roads are as follows: River Road, Old Quay Wharf, Baltic Wharf and Arun Wharf. All of these roads form the exclusion zone which is outlined in red on the enclosed map.

3) Enter the premises known as Milletts, Bognor Regis, Butlins, Bognor Regis, Somerfield Stores, Littlehampton and TK Max, Worthing.

4) To associate in any way whatsoever or contact directly or indirectly the following persons: Adam GEE, David NEWNHAM, Scott STEMP, Billy Jo WILKINS, Harry BRAUND, Lee BARNES, Wendy COLLINS or Kadeem MCNEILL.

5) Be drunk in a public place.

6) Climb onto roof tops or scaffolding of any private or public building.

Sgt Peter Allan of Littlehampton Police said: "I am pleased that the magistrates listened to the evidence presented to them and granted this Anti-Social Behaviour Order. They did so to protect the community from the behaviour displayed by Laura Watson over a long period. Due to her age I am restricted in what I can say about that behaviour. Laura displayed an attitude and behaviour that was rude, unruly and at times aggressive at a number of locations in and around the Arun District and Worthing town centre.

“It was as a last resort that Littlehampton Police, in cooperation with our partners, took this step as other interventions had simply not altered her behaviour.

“A number of professionals have devoted time to working with Laura with the aim of breaking this cycle of behaviour. I want to thank those partners for the many attempts they made to work with Laura in an effort to change her anti social behaviour. I would particularly like to record my appreciation of the hard work undertaken by PC Dan Bridger of the Littlehampton Neighbourhood Policing Team and Sarah Meeten of Arun District Council’s Anti Social Behaviour Team for their work in compiling the evidence in this case and working closely with colleagues from The Crown Prosecution Service to ensure we did what we could to protect the community.

“It is my hope, for Laura's sake and that of the wider community, that the imposition of this Order signals a change in her behaviour.

“I hope also that the securing of this ASBO sends out a strong message to those who commit anti-social behaviour and those communities who are subject to it that we will use all available legislative means to provide safer communities for people to live in.”

Special posters and leaflets have now been designed containing her photograph, name, date of birth and the conditions of her ASBO to inform the public of the prohibitions contained within her Order.

They will be delivered to homes and shops in and around the areas of Littlehampton, Bognor Regis and Worthing where Laura’s behaviour caused such a negative impact on community wellbeing. The publication of the prohibitions is also to encourage people to help police Laura’s conditions by calling Sussex Police on 0845 60 70 999 if they witness any breaches.

Fewer people suffer at the hands of distraction burglars in Sussex.

Sussex Police welcome a 43% reduction in distraction burglaries last year. 123 offences were reported in 2009, compared with 215 during 2008.

Offences significantly reduced across the Autumn and Winter months in particular. Between September and December 2009 only 18 offences were recorded across Sussex, compared to the 101 offences recorded over the same period in 2008.

Distraction burglary is any crime where a falsehood, trick or distraction is used to try to get into premises to commit theft. Violence or other verbal pressure is used by offenders against the elderly in order to gain entry to their homes and steal their property.

The crime-fighting charity, Crimestoppers, has today launching a list of 10 Most Wanted people across the UK sought in connection with distraction burglaries and warns people to be careful about who they let into their homes. See fuller details at www.crimestoppers-uk.org/wanted .

Detective Sergeant Brett Wood of Sussex Police said; "We have been targeting the type of people who commit this particularly unpleasant and vicious type of crime, and we hope this is part of the reason for the reduction. There is currently a 16% detection rate but this type of crime is committed by relatively small numbers of criminals and we often find that police operations and individual arrests can be followed by a drop in offences.

"However we still receive reports of such crime and have not let up on our efforts. Meanwhile residents can help by following our advice."

• Bogus callers target older people - the average age of their victims is 81
• 60% of victims are women and the vast majority live alone.
• Typically, bogus callers con people out of cash and valuables. While the loss of these items can be distressing, of greater impact to the victim may be the stress that such an attack causes. It may have a significant impact on the victim's confidence and may lead to a deterioration in the victim's overall health.
• Advice to the elderly when dealing with cold callers at the door - when you hear that there is someone at the door:
Take your time - a genuine caller will wait.
Check your doors are locked - offenders can come in pairs, one will enter the back while the accomplice distracts you at the front.
Look and see who is there using the door viewer or nearby window.
If you decide to open the door apply your door chain or door bar.
Remember - identification is very easy to reproduce. Any ID offered should be verifiable. Make that phone call and check it.
If you are not happy with the caller and your suspicions are aroused call Sussex Police on 0845 60 70 999 or in an emergency dial 999.