After a man who stole £70,000 worth of watches has been successfully convicted Hampshire Constabulary are reminding people of the importance of registering their valuables with IMMOBILISE.
Joseph Crewe, 31, of Liverpool Road in Portsmouth, stole nine Rolex watches and a Girard-Perregaux watch from a house in Southsea back in January this year.
One of the watches was recovered after Rolex contacted police to report a stolen watch had been sent to them for servicing.
Hampshire Constabulary contacted police forces and border control agencies in other countries in a bid to stop the watches being taken overseas.
Crewe was then detained in Australia. The Australian Federal Police recovered four of the watches, along with receipts for two more of the watches, which had been sold in Malaysia.
Detective Constable Charlie Cox said: “This case stresses the importance of registering the serial numbers of goods of value, on sites such as the free www.immobilise.com
“We had no forensic evidence; our only line of enquiry was around the serial numbers on the watches.
“I would like to thank Australian Federation Police, Australian Border Force, Etihad Airlines, Rolex, Pristine Watches of Knightsbridge and Watches and Jewellery of Bond Street for their cooperation and assistance, which has helped bring Crewe to justice and return the majority of the watches back to their rightful owner.”
Crewe was sentenced on Friday 11th May to two years, suspended, and ordered to complete 150 hours unpaid work after pleading guilty to burglary.
