Sabotage

tfox

Ok guys was out this morning on bit of ground I have in the Slieveblooms, saw 29 does and fawns, think I saw a pricket in the distance but not sure !!Anyway as I was heading back down to the Landrover I heard a car door slam and the sound of a car travelling the gravel road/ The road was below me with a gate across it so assumed they'd just gone through it. The road was hidden from view for a while and then I saw a red peugot van heading out towards my landrover, where it paused for a few seconds, then drove on out !!As there is some grazing on the ground I assumed it to be a farmer checking his stock. Anyway headed home and the Mullingar side of Tullamore noticed a very sever wobble and thumping in the landrover (well more than usual, it is a landrover after all) , pulled in on the hard shoulder and noticed that the front left wheel was hanging on by one nut (out of 5) which was half off, all the rest were gone !!!! Now is over 2 months since had that wheel off and has been washed numerous times since then and I'm sure I would've noticed missing nuts !!Is it possible that some begrudged poacher would stoop so low as to loosen my nuts !! He could have spent hours at the landrover while I was out stalking and I would've been none the wiser ? Unfortunately I couldnt get a reg number before he left !! I was very close to a bad accident as was only half mile from the M6 and shudder to think what would happen with a wheel falling off at 120kmh !!

johngalway

If you're sure the nuts were put on properly and that they couldn't have come off any other way I'd report that to the local Gardai. Far from a laughing matter if someone done that to you on purpose.

Could you set up a trail camera near that gate? Might get the same van again, never know.

tfox

Yes well I am 99% sure that they were all on tight when I put last wheel back on !! Friend of mine down the road has a trail camera so might go borrow it. Haven't got in touch with the landowner yet to find out if he knows who it is. Trouble is he does not live locally and hasnt owned the land very long so not likely to know the local vehicles or fly-by-nights !! Trouble is there is absolutely no way to prove they did anything even if did find out who they are !!

meathshooter1

that is very serious, first thing you should do is report it to the guards you could have been seriously injured or killed.could it that they where trying to steal your wheel and you disturbed them,happened me a few years back came back to find the car up on blocks,also had a land cruiser stolen later found in sallysgap damaged.

tfox

Well they are quite expensive alloys and big tyres that wouldnt fit much else apart from a landrover with a 2" lift, and to be honest needs a 4tonne jack to get it up so you'd want to be well prepared !! I've rang the local barracks and they said what I thought that very hard with no real evidence !! They said If I get any pics or more info from the land owner to pass it on !!

deerhunter1

tfox wrote: »

Yes well I am 99% sure that they were all on tight when I put last wheel back on !! Friend of mine down the road has a trail camera so might go borrow it. Haven't got in touch with the landowner yet to find out if he knows who it is. Trouble is he does not live locally and hasnt owned the land very long so not likely to know the local vehicles or fly-by-nights !! Trouble is there is absolutely no way to prove they did anything even if did find out who they are !!

Does not matter notify the Gardai, get it on record, you never know they may have had similar reports that you do not know about. It is all about intelligence gathering. May have been some anti-blood sport crowd or a local, thing is report it. These people or person will keep on doing it if they know it is going un-reported.

endasmail

incident is too serious to let go
report it to the garda

tfox

tfox wrote: »

I've rang the local barracks and they said what I thought that very hard with no real evidence !! They said If I get any pics or more info from the land owner to pass it on !!

As said, rang them and that was there response !!

underthetumb

thats outragous, you were lucky. some thugs out there. plenty knockin around the slieve blooms.

deerhunter1

tfox wrote: »

As said, rang them and that was there response !!

Go to the station and make a formal complaint and make a statement,otherwise your complaint is Jack Sh-t. The GS will not give a sh-t otherwise and it will go no-where fast. Get it on record, GS do not take much attention to complaints over the phone, I would bet there is no record of your complaint written down in the station. What you done was tell them about it , thats all, you did not make a formal complaint

tfox

deerhunter1 wrote: »

Go to the station and make a formal complaint and make a statement,otherwise your complaint is Jack Sh-t. The GS will not give a sh-t otherwise and it will go no-where fast. Get it on record, GS do not take much attention to complaints over the phone, I would bet there is no record of your complaint written down in the station. What you done was tell them about it , thats all, you did not make a formal complaint

Thanks for the advice, prob heading down next week sometime so will call into the barracks and have a proper chat.

Kristopherus

No need to wait until you are down there again. Report it to your local station. They can then pass on the complaint to the appropriate station, but you will at least have it on record that bit earlier.Get that done tomorrow morning.

dahat

did the alloys have lock nuts on them?
worth investing in them to prevent a futher occurance.........

tfox

Kristopherus wrote: »

No need to wait until you are down there again. Report it to your local station. They can then pass on the complaint to the appropriate station, but you will at least have it on record that bit earlier.Get that done tomorrow morning.

Again thanks for the advice, will pop in tomorrow.

MarkD.

Tfox, sounds like a very serious incident that you should do everything in your power to prevent in order to keep you out of pocket and keep you safe.
I am currently trying to introduce this system into Ireland. As I think there is no other produst out there like it and wont be for years, simple yet effective.
Its a system of identifing thise who attempt to steal your property or aletr it in such away to harm you. Has proven very successfull in England, loads of convictions. Even the sticker alone would deter them from touching your vehicle.

http://www.smartwater.com/Home.aspx

ssl

When you go in ask to speak to someone in charge. That always gets peoples attention.

Grizzly 45

Sounds like sombody does NOT want you in their turf!
Most importantly ,be willing and get the statement taken in writing!!Aint worth Jack otherwise..As for the offence that should carry alot more weight,as that could if it had injured or worse killed you be classified as a at best[not really for you] but legal standpoint and view as a attempted murder .Dont think I'm being melodramatic.BUT if somone deliberatly set out to do this lug nut loosening exercise,that can be classified as intent to comit grevious bodily harm or kill!Nor would I leave this to somtime next week.I'd do this tomrrow.It's too serious.
Having driven Landrovers myself,I would definately concur that wheel nuts dont come off by themselves.Usually a length 5ft of water pipe as a lever is required to shift them.:)
As for catching these boyos.Suggest carry on as normal,going back to the exact spot and parking up and going out and back,so they get to see a routine.BUT maybe take a mate along in the back of the LR who you drop off and let him work his way back with a camcorder and a mobile to do some OBS as to see who pitches up and mucks around the LR.

roosman

This happened to my brothers jeep about 6 mths ago, he is a farmer, his son was driving down the road and the rear wheel came off, he didnt crash as it ran on the disc, scared the s*** out of him, one bolt was all that was left, the stub was left in the hole. Why are jeeps being targeted, its criminally and an insane thing to do..are they anti's, are they thugs, are they nutcases...who knows ?

tfox

Statement was made today to my local Seargant who I have a very good relationship with. Said he'd see to it personally that it was handed on through the proper chain of process. Reckons I should still call into local barracks and give them the low down too. The other chap that shoots there is down on the 1st so told him too keep his eyes peeled, trailcam going up next time I'm down !! If I catch him down there again he'll find out the other uses I have for a wheel brace !!

juice1304

you can rent me and my ghillie i will charge two pints an hour plus an extra charge of a dinner box for anything over five hours.

tfox

I'd hope you'd wax the Landrover at that rate :-)

il gatto

Did you walk the lane and search where you'd parked? The nuts may still be there. Would pretty much prove that it'd been tampered with. Otherwise you'll wonder if they came off one by one and there was no foul play. Owing a Land Rover myself, I know it wouldn't loosen nuts like that, but if you found them at the scene, at least you know for sure where you stand. Then it's just down to whether it's a poacher, ar5ehole farmer or sociopath animal rights type.
Good luck and hope you catch the b@stard in the act if there's a next time.

Esel

dahat wrote: »

did the alloys have lock nuts on them?
worth investing in them to prevent a futher occurance.........

Most people only use one lock nut per wheel though....

tikkamark

johngalway wrote: »

If you're sure the nuts were put on properly and that they couldn't have come off any other way I'd report that to the local Gardai. Far from a laughing matter if someone done that to you on purpose.

Could you set up a trail camera near that gate? Might get the same van again, never know.

Firstly thats seriously bad form,if that wheel had came off and you on a motorway you and god knows who else could have been killed and all for what a few deer-dont think its worth someones life.

Would have to agree with john theres a fairly good chance that whoever did that will be back in the area again.

tfox

il gatto wrote: »

Did you walk the lane and search where you'd parked? The nuts may still be there. Would pretty much prove that it'd been tampered with. Otherwise you'll wonder if they came off one by one and there was no foul play. Owing a Land Rover myself, I know it wouldn't loosen nuts like that, but if you found them at the scene, at least you know for sure where you stand. Then it's just down to whether it's a poacher, ar5ehole farmer or sociopath animal rights type.
Good luck and hope you catch the b@stard in the act if there's a next time.

The other chap who shoots down there is having a look for me on the first for the nuts !!dahat - Had lock nuts but they were more hassle than they're worth, kept on loosing the adapter nut for them !!

Mellor

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

legal standpoint and view as a attempted murder .Dont think I'm being melodramatic.

Grizzly, you are being melodramatic, I seriosuly doubt that the person tampering with the wheels had the intent to kill the guy.
Was either a guy trying to steal the wheels.
Or somebody with some sort of problem with Jeeps, Johm Gormley prehaps.


OP, sounds like a horrible situation. How noticable was the change in driving? I ask because you are sure that they were fine before, but could they have been taken off earlier that day, at the shop etc. I wouldn't assume that it happened in the field, unless of course the change was impossible to miss.
Another reason why finding the bolts will be helpful.

meathstevie

Mellor wrote: »

Grizzly, you are being melodramatic, I seriosuly doubt that the person tampering with the wheels had the intent to kill the guy.
Was either a guy trying to steal the wheels.
Or somebody with some sort of problem with Jeeps, Johm Gormley prehaps.


OP, sounds like a horrible situation. How noticable was the change in driving? I ask because you are sure that they were fine before, but could they have been taken off earlier that day, at the shop etc. I wouldn't assume that it happened in the field, unless of course the change was impossible to miss.
Another reason why finding the bolts will be helpful.

Mellor, if someone does that sort of thing to a Jeep knowing full well someone is going to drive it after it would be a touch more serious than tampering or criminal damage. If I blocked the barrel of you shotgun or rifle knowing you were going to fire it without inspecting soon afterwards what would you think I'd be guilty of ?

tfox

Mellor wrote: »

Grizzly, you are being melodramatic, I seriosuly doubt that the person tampering with the wheels had the intent to kill the guy.
Was either a guy trying to steal the wheels.
Or somebody with some sort of problem with Jeeps, Johm Gormley prehaps.


OP, sounds like a horrible situation. How noticable was the change in driving? I ask because you are sure that they were fine before, but could they have been taken off earlier that day, at the shop etc. I wouldn't assume that it happened in the field, unless of course the change was impossible to miss.
Another reason why finding the bolts will be helpful.

It couldnt have happened beforehand as I went straight down to my ground 1st thing and didnt stop anywhere until the wobble started. It went from bit wobbly to " Oh sh!t pull in now " in bout half a mile !! Havnt been back since, other chap that shoots there is down in the morning and is gonna have a look for my nuts !!

landkeeper

T the only thing i find strange about the whole incident is that land rover wheel nuts are 27 mm not the average size wheel brace that is carried in a van unless they had a socket set and a breaker bar they wouldn't get them undone with just a 1/2" socket set
anyway as i said to you before there are 4 lock nuts here if you want

tfox

Yeah I take what your saying landkeeper, it is all very strange and worrying ?! As you know they dont just fall by themselves, need a lot of effort to make them shift !! If I'd changed the wheel recently I would've put it down to my own carelessness !! But as I told you I made that mistake once and double check everytime I put a wheel on now !!

Grizzly 45

Mellor wrote: »

Grizzly, you are being melodramatic, I seriosuly doubt that the person tampering with the wheels had the intent to kill the guy.
Was either a guy trying to steal the wheels.
Or somebody with some sort of problem with Jeeps, Johm Gormley prehaps.

Well ask a state solicitor or Garda about that one then Mellor.:rolleyes: It certainly could be argued if the person who did this was an "anti" or rival or poacher,or...?that there was intent to kill or comit GBH.There was certainly Intent,means,now all you would need is motive.
How do we know what was on that persons mind or motives??