In the know

Officers from the Specialist Neighbourhood Team (SNT) assisted with an arrest for a domestic assault in Egham and a drink drive offence in Thorpe at the weekend. Officers have also completed a foot patrol around Addlestone town and Ottershaw village. We also had pro-active unmarked patrols of bicycle theft hotspots. A BMW was seized in Thorpe for no tax as it hadn't been taxed since April 2023 and a ticket was issued for driving without due care. 

In recent weeks, there has been an increase in burglaries reported across Runnymede and Spelthorne, where jewellery was the target and has been stolen from properties. Jewellery is one of the most popular items on a burglar’s wish list, it’s small, portable and has a high resale value. It is really important that if jewellery is kept within your home, that it is protected from thieves.

We want to offer some tips on how to protect your treasured possessions:

If your jewellery is very high value, we recommend storing it somewhere away from your home, such as a safety deposit box at a bank, where it cannot be easily accessed.

We recommend installing a safe at home to protect high value items. There are different types and sizes of safes for different needs (such as fire resistant, freestanding, wall/floor safes), so do your research before you buy. Remember that a determined burglar will try to remove safes, so consider one that can be fixed to the wall or floor.

Under beds, in wardrobes and bedside tables are the first places a burglar will look for valuables. Think outside the box and consider storing jewellery in false bottom drawers, bookcases or the loft.

Get your jewellery valued and insured. Although this won’t stop items being stolen, it will provide financial protection if the worst should happen.

Keep photographs, written descriptions and serial numbers of all your valuables. If stolen, this will allow us to attempt to trace the items and help return them to you later if recovered. 

A child sex offender is back behind bars thanks to the work of our Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT). Max Coughlin, 29 (DOB 27/12/1994), from Redhill was jailed for six years at Guildford Crown Court on 28 October with an extended licence for a further year. It follows his trial earlier this year when he was found guilty of facilitating the commission of a child sex offence having already pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children. A warrant was executed at an address in Redhill by POLIT officers following intelligence Coughlin was breaching a previous Sexual Harm Prevention Order which placed tight prohibitions on him to have no contact with children. Officers recovered 15 devices including phones and laptops and found he was using apps including Snapchat and then deleting them to try and avoid detection. Further evidence showed he was making plans to meet a child for the purpose of sexually abusing them. Detective Sergeant Ben Green, said: "Once we received intelligence about Coughlin’s online activity, we took swift action to arrest him and seize his devices and the intended victim was never subject to any physical sexual offence. "The behaviour Coughlin was showing was predatory, and I would like to thank officers and staff not only in POLIT but in the digital forensic and offender management teams, who have all worked together to achieve this result. "This is a clear demonstration of our policing response to the ever present online threat posed by predators towards children."

A paramedic who lost control of his ambulance and collided with a bus stop, which resulted in the death of a pedestrian waiting inside, has been found guilty of causing death by careless driving following a trial at Guildford Crown Court. Craig Chitty, 41, (DOB 26/2/1983), of Effingham, Leatherhead, a paramedic with South East Coast Ambulance Service, was transporting a patient to hospital on a non-emergency journey on 5 August 2021 at approximately 9:17am on the A23 Brighton Road in Salfords. The ambulance drifted to the nearside, mounted the pavement and collided with a bus stop, where the pedestrian, 39-year-old Carmel Ryder, was waiting for a bus. Miss Ryder, a much-loved fiancée, daughter, sister and friend, sadly died at the scene from her injuries. Chitty will be sentenced at Guildford Crown Court on 20 December 2024. We will provide further details about the case after sentencing has taken place on 20 December

130 suspects were arrested, 200 wraps of class A&B drugs were confiscated, 89 vehicles were seized, £30k in cash was seized, 13 weapons, including shotguns and knives have been taken off our streets. A huge shout out to Thames Valley Police, Metropolitan Police Service, Bedfordshire Police, Essex Police, Kent Police, Northamptonshire Police, Sussex Police, City of London Police and British Transport Police who we worked with to focus on offenders who operate across our borders to commit crime.