Thieves steal teen motocross bikes
October 31, 2007
MOTOCROSS star Bradley Bird is heartbroken after thieves stole his new bike worth nearly £3,000 - just hours after he rode it to victory in two races.
A second older bike worth more than £1,000 belonging to the 14-year-old was also taken during a break-in at his Stonehouse home on Sunday night. His parents Jason and Tracey, of ********, had only bought the orange KTM 85 motocross bike last Wednesday, October 24.
They were planning to sell the older bike but had yet to find a buyer.
Thieves broke into a locked garden shed and snapped bolts securing both bikes, which were not insured due to a loophole which means motorised off-road vehicles stored in garages cannot be covered.
Mrs Bird, 36, a hairdresser, said: "We didn't hear anything. We went to bed about 11.30pm and got up at 6am.
"We live in a terrace house so they must have climbed over my neighbour's five high fence.
"It would have needed more than one person to get the bikes over that. They definitely knew the bikes were in the shed because they came with equipment to break the locks."
The family had just returned home from a race day on Sunday at Ford near Castle Coombe run by the Amateur Motor Cycle Association, where Bradley had won two races and was rewarded with a trophy.
Over the past two years, the Maidenhill School pupil has excelled in the sport and won 16 trophies.
"I can just about live with the old one going but the new one going is heartbreaking," said Mr Bird, 37, who runs a double glazing business and used to compete in motocross when he was younger.
"Tracey and I enjoy it as much as Bradley because the social life in brilliant. Bradley is heartbroken and we can't afford to buy another bike."
The teenager will not be unable to compete again unless the bikes are found.
"I'm upset and pretty angry," said Bradley.
"When I race I get an adrenaline rush and the environment is great.
"I would love to have a future in it but these people are stopping me. I don't know how I'm going to finish the season."
* Do you have any information about the break-in or have you seen bikes matching the descriptions given above being sold in suspicious circumstances?
Call police on 0845 090 1234 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 quoting incident number 42 of October 29 and help Bradley kick-start his hobby again.
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