We have been victims of daylight robbery with the inevitable upset and yet Team Hook has pulled together and risen above this blatant crime.
Right now it’s a lovely time for us as a family and this afternoon all four of us were at home, in our quiet residential cul-de-sac. We were in our dining room, at the back of the house. It was mid afternoon and was bright, warm and sunny outside when Hannah heard a noise and alerted us to some men doing something to her car outside on the road. We rushed outside but they had gone.
Shortly afterwards we were joined by a neighbour who explained the whole thing. A car had pulled up alongside Hannah’s Honda Jazz. Two men got out and used a trolley jack to quickly lift the front of the car while the other used an angle grinder or a buzz saw to remove the catalytic converter. Then they quickly sped off. It was all over in seconds, almost Formula One pit stop work.
Thankfully our neighbour was able to write down the registration number of the offender’s car and we passed this onto the Police who were keen to follow this up. During the afternoon we could hear several sirens in the area; we’d like to think they were Police cars catching the scallywags but it was probably unconnected.
Naturally Hannah was very upset. She’s only 18 and this is her first car. We bought it a year ago and although it had very low mileage, it needed quite a bit of work. She passed her test in it and has had the car in North Wales while she completes her college course. It was only yesterday that she drove the 220 miles to come home for her graduation celebrations at college.
Without any hesitation Team Hook spun into action. Rachel consoled Hannah while Becky and I walked around to three small local garages. Each said they could do the work and we chose one that was easy to get to. They said we could drive the car, keep the revs as low as possible and take the shortest route. Naturally it made a huge racket, Becky said we were like those young lads with their noisy exhaust pipes! When we got to the garage the mechanics said they could hear us coming!
Thankfully they can fix the car by replacing the catalytic converter, two sensors and a new exhaust pipe. £620. Ouch.
Problems come along in life. We deal with them. We don’t simply mope about them, brooding over the problem and allowing it to get worse in our minds. We stick together as a family, everyone knows what to do without any huge debate and we have that natural instinct to not be beaten by this kind of thing. Getting the car fixed is easy, naturally I’m hoping Hannah will see this incident as we do – calm, measured and being quietly determined.
Post script
Happily we have had the car repaired, courtesy of those brilliant people at Northview Garage, Great Northern Road in Dunstable. They were great – they pulled out all the stops to get the parts ordered and fitted, all within 24 hours! Great job done.
Hannah, on the other hand appears to have broken a bone in her wrist. That’s another story…..
