Attempted theft Defender 110 in Todmorden West Yorkshire

Hello, last night around midnight my Defender was subject to an attempted theft by four men. I returned home at 10.30pm then went through the same security procedure, adding the Disklok to the steering wheel then the clutch claw to the clutch and break pedal. I then locked my Defender and went bed. At 1pm I was woken up with that most dreaded of phone calls from the police, an attempted theft of the vehicle. I looked outside to see a police car next to the Defender about 20 meters from my flat. The thieves had been interrupted by a passer by who phoned the police, the four men scarpered leaving a scene of destruction.
Both headlamps and indicators had been stripped and left and right hand wiring looms were hanging out! I immediately realised it was organised as they'd targeted the alarm system and central locking. Inside the Disklok had been pincered open at the bottom hinge and removed. The brake pedal had been sawn off leaving the clutch claw attached to the clutch pedal. The steering column was in bits with wires everywhere. On closer inspection the ignition barrel had had something jammed into it to try and start it. The Defender was also parked under cctv which hasn't seemed to bother them in the slightest. As you can imagine I was and still am devastated. You assume its never going to happen and the relocation of the alarm system was next on my list.

The police were actually very helpful and stayed with it until a recovery vehicle collected it around 3am. It was clearly a targeted theft and happened very quickly, I have to say that although they found ways around the metal work security, it definitely slowed them down, and thankfully the police were notified and arrived pretty quickly.
Its an awful experience to go through especially when ive only had it 6 weeks. Make sure you do all you can to protect these vehicles from organised crime units. The damage is awaiting assessment by the insurer so hopefully it wont take too long to get her back. I'll definitely be looking into more security options and a tracker device.

You must be a heavy sleeper not hearing them sawing through the claw from 20 metres away. Thankfully they didn’t get it

See my comments in the 'Stolen' fred.

johnlad said:

You must be a heavy sleeper not hearing them sawing through the claw from 20 metres away. Thankfully they didn’t get it

Click to expand...

The claw is intact they cut through the pedal, it’s not hardened metal so fairly easy to cut with a battery power tool.
I heard last night that a black 110 Defender was stolen at 3am in Halifax so it sounds like they stole that one after failing to get mine .

Yes,the security isn't impregnable if people turn up with tools, but at last it slowed them down enough until the police got there. Did they arrest anyone or did they manage to run off when the police turned up?

So post 4 answers my question. They must have made their escape and possibly tried again.

As wew seem to be duplicating, here is my previous response:
"Sorry to hear about tha damage to your Fender.
I hope that either you or the Tod Constabules notify:
the Halifax Courier (01422 260208 [email protected])
Hebden Bridge Times (01422 260227 [email protected]) and the
Todmorden News (01422 260228 [email protected]),
to spread the word around the area.
Possibly the same lot from Bury or Ovenden at it again ..."

I totally sympathise with you, I had my Patriot roof rack, led lights & front grill stripped last year. It is quite upsetting to think that someone has planned a targeted attack on your property. I love my defender it is something I wanted for years and was so pleased when I got one. However I am fed up with checking each morning to see if it is still on the drive. When parking somewhere having to go through the rigmarole of securing it as best as, then still wondering on my return whether it will be there. Even if they had caught the thieves I doubt whether they would have got more than a slap on the wrist and a paltry fine. A lot of the blame must lie with people who buy the parts, I know it can be difficult to prove providence but is it seems to cheap it is probably stolen. I will keep my Defender and just put up with the constant worry. Keep your chin up when out driving it you forget about all the other stuff, at least you still got it.

People really can be c**ts some times. My Defender is my pride and joy and a lot of money has gone in to it. I'd be absolutely devastated if something happened to it so I really feel for you. By the sounds of it, everything they've done is fixable so don't be too downhearted.

Incidentally, my own Defender was stolen-recovered when I bought it and all of the locks and ignition could be turned with a screw driver. I'm really lucky to live in a rural area where there is extremely little car crime but evidently security is a real concern on these vehicles.

I was just about to ask what security measures people have taken but it seems that this question has already been asked many times before: https://www.landyzone.co.uk/search/32459439/?q=security&o=relevance&c[node]=7