Thieves hit MRS
By Sean Lawless on 16th Nov 16
Malcolm Rathmell Sport was targeted for the second time in the space of three months on Friday evening when thieves broke into a van containing four brand new enduro bikes worth 30,000.
The van was reversed up to a wall in the car park of the Rotherham North Holiday Inn Express when the raid occurred.
While the MRS team were inside the hotel the thieves struck between 5.30pm and 7.15pm.
After breaking into the front of the van they released the handbrake, rolled it forward and then forced the back doors. The stolen bikes are 250cc and 300cc versions of Sherco's 2017 two and four-stroke enduro range.
"It's heart-breaking,” said Carly Rathmell.
"They obviously knew exactly what they were doing. The only signs that the van had been broken into were one screwdriver mark on the front door and one screwdriver mark on the back door.
"Afterwards they even hung the bike straps up and pushed the van back against the wall.”
The team had to race back to the company HQ near Harrogate, collect four new machines and then run them in ready for the start of the company's open day the following morning. "It was a bit of a rush,” added Rathmell.
"Each bike needs at least a full tank of petrol through it before it's run-in but we managed it and the open day was a success with 90 or so people enjoying a test ride.”
The following morning a team rider had his Ford Transit stolen from the hotel car park.
In August a lorry from Italy containing Airoh helmets and Gaerne boots destined for MRS was stolen from a service area near Leicester.
Anyone with information regarding this latest theft should dial 101 with the crime reference number 1103 111.
The stolen machines are...
300 4T – VNBS630E3HBOO7213
300 2T – VNBS634E3HBOO2964
250 4T – VNBS625E3HBOO7170
250 2T – VNBS624E3HBOO3081
