Not good is it

I know it's a bit off topic but as I work very closely with the police the morale generally is rock bottom and where for many it was an aspirational career yesteryear I think all that's eroded and perhaps the dedicated public protection and service is getting difficult to find. I think short term contracts are getting discussed 'cos they don't want the pension bill at the end As BP will know many of the specialist police teams, such as vehicle crime, have been scrapped along with all that knowledge and experience. Still one indifferent experience shouldn't tar everyone with the same brush.

I'm sorry my rather heavy post seems to have all but stopped this thread in its tracks! I make no secret of the fact that I have bipolar because I wouldn't have to hide it if I had a heart condition or diabetes. The more people that "come out" the more accepting the world will be. It happened for gay folk and now it's happening for the mentally ill.
(climbs down off soapbox...)

Why don't you start a separate thread in the General section Annie? You are in august company such as Stephen Fry and Rick Stein, and I for one would be very interested to learn a little about bipolarity especially as I suspect my colleague at work has it.

No need to apologise and trust me I know where you're coming from. My eldest has aspergers and as a family we went through hell for several years until we got the diagnosis. Now that I understand more it's frightening how reactions of those suffering with mental health issues may be misjudged in, shall we say, a robust encounter with law enforcement.

But hey - this is way off topic and doesn't help poor JH with his coop..

Yeah I know, I'm sorry.

Update,

The police officer went back to the yard, and has seized the engine. I'm going to the station tomorrow to find the engine number on it

If i know scap yards like i think i know scrap yards. Id be very surprised if any part of your car would still be in that yard after this amount of time especially after plod showed an interest. Imo.

Big thanks to GrahamL, DavegG and barnacle, without your help I wouldn't have been able to locate the engine code.

Went with the police officer to where the engine had been taken to, located the number and of course it marries up with whats on my V5. We can now prove they handled stolen goods
With the fact my Alloy was there too, I think I can prove beyond reasonable doubt that the car was stripped/scrapped there.

Can't quite believe how difficult FIAT have made it to firstly locate the code on the engine, and then read it! even after cleaning it up it's difficult to read the dots that make up the code.

Well done I stand corrected what a stupid scrap man! There's some good priced models around to bump up your costs claim proof too. Doesn't make up for the cheek of it but nice one.

Sweet. I'm so glad you've got them bang to rights. Theft (especially within the motor trade) is something I find truly disgusting. Now it's not just an allegation can you name and shame them? Saves any of us unknowingly buying stolen parts.

Thats awful and quite shocking that the took the car within 24hours and got rid of most of it but kept the engine!

I hope it all gets sorted quickly and you get yourself back in a coupe!

Not sure whether to say "good news" but well done team for perseverance and outing this crooked shower. I'm sure the local press might find somewhere in their columns.....

Assuming your insurance will cough up I hope you can put it toward a replacement coupe

There is a gorgeous Sprinty in the for sale section ...

Having just sold some metal to a scrapper, you have to provide photo ID, proof of address and the metal has to be weighed. They also use your number plate to identify what you've brought in and they can somehow see the plate from inside the hut so I guess it is CCTV'd and recorded. The yard may not have known that the car wasn't theirs but they should have enough information to help.