I tracked down my dad’s Jaguar XF after it was stolen – but then he was slapped with a £60 SPEEDING TICKET
A DAUGHTER managed to track down her elderly dad’s Jaguar after thieves stole it from his driveway - but not before the joyriders had racked up a £60 speeding ticket.
Becky Harrington, from Bournemouth, Dorset, has been labelled a "detective" and "Bournemouth's very own Poirot" after hunting down a stolen car in four days.
Her 72-year-old dad Harry was heartbroken when his "pride and joy" - a £12,000 Jaguar XF - was stolen from the driveway overnight.
He had only just bought the shiny new car in 2020, so Becky took matters into her own hands and started sleuthing around herself.
Amazingly, within just days of it vanishing, the daughter-turned-detective managed to discover the missing vehicle, abandoned but undamaged.
The pair were then shocked when Harry was landed with a £60 speeding ticket, racked up by the joyriding thieves at 3.30am on the night it disappeared.
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The burglars seem to have broken into the snazzy start-button Jag and zoomed off in the dark, but dumped it after getting snapped by the speed camera.
Becky told The Sun how she turned to social media to spread word of the theft.
The mum-of-two said: "I started a social media campaign, I added myself in every group I could find, I went into local petrol stations, I went into shops, I was going round with a photo of the car.
"I put it all over Facebook and I mean the post was being shared over 200 times in one For Sale page.
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"It just went mental, a thousand shares in just a couple of hours. I was sitting there and sharing it in 20, 30, 40, 50 groups at a time."
Becky's posts quickly gathered momentum and someone even reached out with a lead.
A local told her they'd seen the flashy four wheels being driven at 5.30am on the morning it had been taken, so Becky narrowed her search to this area.
Yet miraculously, it was a chat with one local that gave up the final clue.
Becky's dad had a coincidental conversation with a taxi driver who had seen the missing Jag abandoned somewhere nearby.
After Harry convinced him that he was indeed the owner, the cabbie took him to see it.
Becky said: "I got him a taxi from my house to home and that’s why I’m so glad I didn’t let him walk.
"Everyone was saying that taxi driver was meant to come to you."
The car had been dumped and left in a mess with the door open, but there was no real damage.
The 32-year-old added: "Inside’s been chucked around a bit and there are a few scratches here and there, but we’re just glad that it’s back really.
"We were just buzzing. We couldn’t belive it. What are the chances of finding the car intact, able to drive back, and not burnt out or anything?
It was just a too-hot-to-handle car around here.
Becky Harrington
"We just got rewarded for not giving up really. As funny as it sounds, it was just a too-hot-to-handle car around here.
"People would have seen it because we were getting [the photo] out everywhere - to the point the taxi driver noticed it."
Social media users who'd been following Becky's relentless campaign rallied around the news that the car had been found after all, cheering on Becky's investigative skills.
One wrote: "Seen this posted over fb, lol hats off to the lass, dug right in and found the goods!!"
Others praised the dedicated daughter saying, "Well done Becky xxxx" and "Can I have your autograph Beckyy Harrington?"
The even hailed her "Bournemouth's very own Poirot", after the famous detective.
But Becky is still keen to discover what exactly happened to the Jag.
"Why shouldn’t we be able to find out, it’s not like we’re tracing a book or a pen or a bag that’s gone missing?" she said.
"They’ve been saying I’ve become a detective, but I just thought it was common sense to be honest.
"I’m a single mum to two children under five, so you’d think I’ve not really got much time on my hands but I still found a way."
Becky added, laughing: "Hopefully I’ll be offered a job from somewhere!"
Speaking about her determined hunt for the car, Becky explained what it meant to her dad Harry.
She said: "He’s retired, he’s just recovered from cancer and had his spleen taken out - and that’s exactly why I thought there’s no way I’m going to let him have that done to him when he’s been through all that.
"What more does a bloke have to go through? Morally I don’t find it acceptable."
Becky added: "I’m not being rude, I appreciate there are other bigger crimes and our little old story is probably nothing compared to some of what goes on, but all these mediocre crimes are escalating.";
Sadly, she's right as car theft in Britain is on the rise and insurers are more than £1.4billion out of pocket because of it.
That's according to vehicle claims specialist , who put in a Freedom of Information request to the Home Office.
The motor experts revealed that police recorded a 7% increase in motor vehicle theft from 2020 to 2021.
Earlier this year, cops warned drivers over a common, but little-known mistake that could end up costing drivers dearly.
Criminals are exploiting motorists who don't double-check that their cars are locked when they pop to the shops.
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Thieves are reportedly jamming signals from fobs in retail centre car parks.
The driver may have no idea their door didn't lock properly when they press the fob - and could return to find their cars have gone.
