Police Take Burglar’s Car To Pay Back His Victims

The Corsa VXR is handed over by Mark Bancroft (left) to Alex Sidman (right), Sales Manager at Baylis Vauxhall, Worcester. West Mercia Police has confiscated the car of a Worcestershire burglar and sold it to compensate his victims.

James Nicholas Powell, aged 19 of Yew Tree Hill, Droitwich, committed a burglary in Bromsgrove on 29 November 2009, where he stole £38,000 in cash.

He was later arrested by police officers, charged with the offence and was imprisoned for 12 months at Worcester Crown Court last month (30 July).

Under the provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Act, confiscation proceedings were undertaken by West Mercia Police's Economic Crime Unit. All of Powell's assets, to the value of £12,000, were identified and used to satisfy the confiscation order.

This included a Vauxhall Corsa VXR, which Powell bought with the stolen cash. Today (Thursday 12 August), West Mercia Police sold the car to local Vauxhall dealer Baylis for £10,000, all of which will be returned to Powell's victims.

Mark Bancroft is an Accredited Financial Investigator at the Economic Crime Unit and dealt with the confiscation. He said, "At West Mercia Police we will do our utmost to stop criminals benefiting from their criminality.

"We will use all available powers to pursue these people, track down their assets and ensure that victims are compensated through the use of the powerful Proceeds of Crime Act legislation.

"We are pleased that we can do something to tip the balance back in favour of victims of crime; they are central to our thinking. We will do everything in our power to ensure victims of crime see justice being done."
Mark Bancroft, West Mercia Police Economic Crime Unit

"Unfortunately, Powell spent much of the stolen money on drugs and gave a lot away to friends, so it is unrecoverable. However, we hope the £12,000 will go some way to compensating the victims. Meanwhile, not only will Powell serve a custodial sentence, when he is released he will have nothing: his behaviour has cost him everything he owns.

"We are pleased that we can do something to tip the balance back in favour of victims of crime; they are central to our thinking. We will do everything in our power to ensure victims of crime see justice being done."

Alex Sidman, Sales Manager for Baylis Worcester, said: "Having been contacted by the Economic Crime Unit and learned about the situation surrounding the Vauxhall Corsa VXR, we at Baylis immediately wanted to help and agreed to buy the car from West Mercia Police.

"As a motor dealer, the opportunity to assist the police and victims of crime does not occur often and we certainly felt that this was a deserving case. We can now sell on the Corsa and make sure it goes to a deserving home!"

Issued: Thursday 12 August 2010