Item left in retrieved stolen boat

[chrissyr]

So I have a small old cabin cruiser on the Thames and it was stolen. We eventually found it and took it back to our mooring. Police came and said they do not think there is enough evidence to continue so wouldn't be doing any follow up.
When I it had 2 outboard motors and a bicycle in it as well as duvet (looks like someone had been sleeping in it). None of the items showed up as reported stolen hence why the police weren't keen.
So now I have the boat back what do I do with the outboards, bike and duvet.
I can't hand them into the police as lost/found property as it was found on private property ie mine.
I can't sell them as they are not mine.
I can't just dump them - or can I take them to council dump?
Worst case do I have to let the person who stole the boat (and caused considerable damage as well as effort on my part) to just take them back?

I am a bit stumped - anyone know what legally I have to do?

C

[gryffron]

The law says you have to make a "reasonable attempt to return it".
So put a sign on your boat saying "Would the person who stole this boat on dd/mm/yy please contact me on this number as I need to talk to you" (burner phone? £10 from Tesco)

When they don't contact you after "reasonable period" (1 month is common), which of course they won't, the property becomes yours, and you can do what you like with it.

Gryff

[pochisoldi]

Throw the duvet. (No reasonable prospect of tracing the owner)

Report the outboard motors and the cycle to the police as lost property, as they have serial numbers (frame number for the bike) and may have been reported stolen.

Then, IIRC, after a certain number of months if the items are not traced or claimed, they become yours.

[staffordian]

I can't hand them into the police as lost/found property as it was found on private property ie mine.


C

Is this correct?

If I found something of value dumped in my garden, I'm sure the police would be happy to take a report. The fact they were there rather than in a public place such as the pavement outside my property surely makes no difference?

Edited to add: I see you refer to "hand in" to police. Is it not sufficient to simply report it to them and take their advice at that point?

[PhaseThree]

The fact that the items ended up in the boat doesn't mean they were the property of the thief.
They may well have been stolen from other boat owners in the area and reported to the police as such by the victims.
You need to contact the police to report these items.

[mc2fool]

The fact that the items ended up in the boat doesn't mean they were the property of the thief.
They may well have been stolen from other boat owners in the area and reported to the police as such by the victims.
You need to contact the police to report these items.

The OP has already said:

None of the items showed up as reported stolen hence why the police weren't keen.

[gryffron]

I can't hand them into the police as lost/found property as it was found on private property ie mine.

Is this correct?

No. Doesn't matter where it was found. Although the rules are slightly different for individuals and businesses. But these days, in general, the police are only interested in Lost-and-Found if:
A) It is stolen (Not the case here, OP has said they already checked)
B) It is likely to be used for crime in the future (knife, gun, drugs etc)
C) It is very easily traceable (driving licence, credit cards, phone)

Since none of the above apply, the police not surprisingly don't want to know. Hence, "make reasonable effort to return it" and then it is yours.

Gryff

[PhaseThree]

The fact that the items ended up in the boat doesn't mean they were the property of the thief.
They may well have been stolen from other boat owners in the area and reported to the police as such by the victims.
You need to contact the police to report these items.

The OP has already said:

None of the items showed up as reported stolen hence why the police weren't keen.

The police aren't required to be keen - they are required to do their job. If you formally report the discovery of a valuable object and the police choose to do nothing at this point then you are at least covered against future allegations being made against you (handling stolen goods, theft of the item etc).

[AF62]

A) It is stolen (Not the case here, OP has said they already checked)

Gryff

To be pedantic the police don't know the outboards and bike were not stolen, only that they were not on the stolen property list - not the same thing at all.

As the two outboards and a bike were found on a boat stolen from chrissyr then it would seem more likely than not that they were also stolen, but the best opportunity to make that case and getting the police to take them away would have been when the police attended.

Personally I would be going back to the police to make the point that these are high value items linked to crime and thus the police should take the items into their care.

[chrissyr]

Thanks for the replies.
Yes the police have seen the items (uniform officers visit when I reported finding they boat)and checked the aerial number for any notice of theft but nothing came back.

I think I might put a notice on the boat as suggested. Just need to find somewhere to store them now!

C

[Avantegarde]

Is there some online forum or notice board for local boat owners? If so, you could invite any victims of outboard-motor-theft to contact you to establish if your mystery motors are in fact theirs. If no-one comes forward, sell them (with full disclosure) assuming they are worth a few bob.

[BobbyD]

I think I might put a notice on the boat as suggested. Just need to find somewhere to store them now!

I'd give the wording some thought, some might read that sign as saying, "Somebody has successfully stolen this boat in the recent past and neither I nor the Police have had any success tracking them down...".

[stevensfo]

The law says you have to make a "reasonable attempt to return it".
So put a sign on your boat saying "Would the person who stole this boat on dd/mm/yy please contact me on this number as I need to talk to you" (burner phone? £10 from Tesco)

When they don't contact you after "reasonable period" (1 month is common), which of course they won't, the property becomes yours, and you can do what you like with it.

Gryff

Who decides what is/isn't considered a 'reasonable attempt' and if just putting a sign on the boat would qualify? I'd be tempted to do a little more than that, but most of all, have some kind of proof that I'd tried. Just in case an owner of one of the motors discovers too late and demands it back.

I only say this because I once heard of a case where a student left a house with his junk filling up the garage and disappeared. The owner wasn't too happy but was advised to wait some time before throwing it all away. One year later, the student wanted his junk back but it had all been thrown away. The owner ended up having to pay the little sod for some of the junk because he hadn't tried very hard to discover where he'd gone to.

Steve - a long time sufferer of 'Murphy's Law'!