Elite mountain biker who had £45k of bikes stolen hires private eye – but is frustrated that police haven’t followed up leads he gave them

A Staffordshire-based elite mountain biker who had £45,000 worth of bicycles stolen in burglary at his parents’ house hired a private investigator to try an track them down – but has spoken of his frustration at police not following up leads supplied by the detective he engaged.

The burglary was one of several in the county in recent months, with businesses and schools targeted, as well as private residences and thieves making off with bikes worth a total of more than £70,000.

Damian Groves, known in mountain biking circles as Dogman and sponsored by Niner Bikes, had stored the four bikes, two of which were supplied by his sponsors, the others being display bikes from the brand, at his parents’ house in Wolstanton, but they were stolen in late June.

“My mum and dad got up and saw the garage had been broken into and the bikes have been taken,” he told The Stoke Sentinel.

“So we ring the police and go down that road. And then the following Wednesday I get a phone call from a friend, who told me that a third party had been offered my bikes by two individuals. He gave me those two names. I told the police that. They admitted to me that those people were known to the police already but could not say what for.

“We then shared a post on social media on Instagram. That post went viral and somebody said they had got my bikes and, cutting a long story short, extorted £300 out of me that night. I reported this to the police.”

He subsequently hired a private investigator, and was also alerted on social media to one of his bikes being offered for sale abroad.

He said: “I got a message from a man in Hungary saying ‘I saw your Instagram post. I believe I’ve spotted one of your bikes for sale’.

“I immediately told my private investigator and the police. It was an advert from Poland.

“They traced the name to an address in Leicestershire. So the PI had a drone in the air and you can match the background of where my bike is advertised to this garden in Leicestershire. I then gave all this to the police, I've been passed back and forth. Based on other intel, my bikes are due to be sold in Poland on the 20th, so they're probably on their way there now.”

Staffordshire Police said: “We were called to a property on Watlands Avenue, Newcastle-under-Lyme, on Sunday, June 25. The victim reported four mountain bikes had been stolen from the property.

“It is also believed all four Niner bikes were stolen between 10.30pm on Saturday, June 24 and 4am on Sunday, June 25. Two of the stolen bikes were red and the other two bikes were black and green. Inquiries are ongoing.

“If you were in the area and have any information, CCTV or dashcam footage that could help us with our inquiries, call 101, quoting incident 223 of June 25, or message us using Live Chat on our website – www.staffordshire.police.uk.”

But Mr Groves, who said that the investigation has cost him £2,500, says he has been frustrated by the reaction of the police, despite the information he has supplied them.

“We’re not talking about minor crime here,” he insisted. “We’re talking about a huge. I’ve provided the police with all this intel and they've just done nothing.

“All I keep getting from the police is ‘were the bikes insured?’ I have run out of funds for the PI. I’m a normal guy, I haven’t got endless pockets.

“The way the law works, these criminals know the chances are slim that they will get caught. That is a shitshow that shows what the state of the country we are in right now.

“You hand the police all this information, and I don't think it's that the police aren't interested. I just think they haven't got the power and the system is just no good. It has broken me.”

Other recent bike-related crimes in the area recently include the theft of six bikes in a break-in at the Pau bike shop in Trentham, with the value of the bikes and damage to the premises caused by the burglars estimated at £20,000.

Also targeted was St Peter’s Academy in Fenton, where two containers were broken into over the weekend of 23 and 24 July, with 14 bikes worth a combined total of £8,000, and used by an after-school club, taken.

Michael Keeling , a teacher at the school, believes it was a targeted crime, explaining: “They cut the perimeter fence, went straight to the two containers that had these bikes in, didn’t go near the one where the staff bikes are.

“We'd only had them 12 weeks. The kids had been working on them, maintaining them. The after-school club was really well-attended and this is a time when many parents and students can't afford the luxury of a bike.”

Police are investigating both of those burglaries, and have said that six people have been arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods after officers recovered 16 bikes from a workshop in Stoke-on-Trent.

It Is unclear whether any of the bikes are ones taken in the three burglaries outlined above, but police are appealing for the lawful owners of the bicycles to come forward and claim them, after discovering the haul at a premises on Shelton Old Road while undertaking inquiries in the area.

The suspects have been released under investigation, and The Stoke Sentinel has published a gallery of the bikes that have been recovered.

A spokesman for the force said: “Do you recognise these bikes? They were seized from a workshop on Shelton Old Road, Stoke-on-Trent, and we believe that they have been stolen.

Officers were conducting enquiries in the area when they found a number of items inside the workshop. The items included the 16 bicycles pictured which were seized and taken to Longton Police Station.

“We are keen to return these bikes to their owners.”

Staffordshire Police have asked anyone recognising any of the bicycles to email Richard.longmore [at] staffordshire.police.uk quoting incident 224 of 4/8.