Car thieves enjoy one in 200 chance of getting away with it!

Altrincham, Cheshire, May 27, 2003 -- Car thieves could run a one in 200 chance of stealing a car and suffering little or no penalty for their crime, reports stolen vehicle tracking company NavTrak.

Based on the Home Office's statistics of 330,000 'reported theft of a vehicle' cases in 2002, just over 51,000 cases were dealt with by official police action. Of the 44,000 cases that made it to court, over 18,000 cases saw charges changed or dismissed or proceedings discontinued. Of the 22,912 thieves who were found guilty, 4,111 were 'locked up', with 2,353 going to prison and 1,758 to a young offenders institution.

However, almost 58% (1,362) of those going to prison and 61% (1082) of young offenders were sentenced for less than three months. Of those that got off with a fine, over 65% paid less than £100.00.

"The chances of taking a car, getting caught and going to jail for more than three months, based on these figures, is 1,667 in 330,000," says managing director of NavTrak, Giles Harridge. "These are odds of 200 to one and, whilst the police continue to do all they can to address car crime, the very nature of car theft means it is likely that thieves will take a car, often for joy-riding or to use in another crime such as a burglary, and then abandon it. With 53% of cars stolen using the drivers' keys, it can often be a while before a car theft is discovered, and it is very hard for the police to follow or find stolen cars. This is why installation of a stolen vehicle tracking device such as NavTrak's ADR system is so important.

"Although manufacturers build in sophisticated alarms and immobilisers, these are little use once the thieves have obtained a car's keys," continues Harridge. "So with thieves seeing little deterrent should they get caught, car owners need to maximise the opportunity of their car being found and recovered quickly, before damage occurs or the car disappears for ever."

NavTrak's ADR (Automatic Driver Recognition) system requires a wallet-sized card, kept by the driver in a wallet or handbag, to be present when the car is moved using its keys. If it is not, an immediate alert is sent to NavTrak's control centre, which in turn alerts the police and provides real-time tracking of the vehicle. The system also works throughout Europe, should a car be stolen, or taken, abroad.

NavTrak with ADR has a 100% success rate of tracking and recovering stolen vehicles.

For further information on NavTrak, visit http://www.navtrak.com/ or call +44(0)8700 11 00 50.

Note to editors: illustrative photography is available.

Juliet Jarvis, RSM Tel: +44 (0)1908 326500 e-mail: juliet@rsm.uk.com