Crime

An opportunist thief stole a red Gilera scooter on Sunday after spotting the owner had left the keys in the ignition.

The 18-year-old owner had left the keys and his crash helmet with the bike while he went into a nearby shop in Shaftesbury Circle in South Harrow.

A black male was seen getting on the bike and driving off down Roxeth Green Road at about 2.30pm.

Two men have been interviewed under caution in relation to last year's fatal Stanley Road gas explosion.

The pair voluntarily attended attended Wembley police station on Thursday to "assist" detectives from the Putney-based homicide and serious crime directorate, who are investigating the blast.

Neither interviewee was arrested, police said.

Emmad Qureshi, 26, was killed by a wound to the neck in the blast on May 7, 2009, that destroyed three houses and left two others injured and numerous families temporarily homeless.

Since the criminal investigation is ongoing, the inquest into Mr Qureshi's death will continue to be delayed.

There have been no arrests or charges so far, although the detectives involved recently received back from the Health and Safety Executive laboratories the results of tests carried out on pipes and gas equipment removed from the blown up house.

Robbers threatened a driver with a knife and stole his cash box in a Sainsbury's supermarket car park in South Harrow.

The security company driver was returning to his van at Sainsbury's, in Northolt Road, South Harrow, when three men attacked him, threw him to the ground and ran off with the cash towards Corbins Lane.

The Flying Squad at Finchley are investigating the raid late last month. Anyone with information on should call 020 8358 1751, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

A burglar squeezed through a window at a house in Rayners Lane to steal jewellery and a briefcase.

A window was forced open on a flat roof extension at the home on February 6 between 5.45pm and 9pm.

The 69-year-old home owner returned home to find his belongings missing.

A police officer has been labelled a concern after receiving six complaints in 12 months.

The Harrow officer is one of only 34 across London who has had five or more complaints about his conduct.

A spokeswoman from the Met said: "Following a series of thorough investigations, only one of the six complaints made against the officer in question was substantiated.

"This complaint was categorised as Òother neglect or failure in duty.

"Any instance where the conduct of our staff falls below the expected standards of professional conduct is treated extremely seriously in line with Metropolitan Police Service policy and as part of our policing pledge to Londoners."

Other neglect or failure in duty could include failure to record or investigate matters and keep interested parties informed or failure to comply with orders, instructions or policy.

Following the complaint the officer was given a written warning which will stay on his file for a year and has remained in his post.

Peter Symthe, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation said: "People seem to have more confidence in the complaints system now.

"All complaints are investigated, but depending what the complaints are they are dealt with differently."

Sonoo Malkani, chair of the Harrow Police and Community Consultative Group, said: "It is a concern there is a particular officer who has so many complaints against him, but if they have given him a written warning then clearly it can't be a very serious matter.

"If it was serious I suspect they would have done more."

Ross Simpson, vice-president of the Harrow Crime Prevention Panel, said: "It is always a concern to hear of an officer who fails in their duty and receives an official warning.

"If it has been dealt with by the police it is a step in the right direction."

The report from the Metropolitan Police Directorate of Professional Standards records events - which are public complaints or conduct matters against staff members - from December 2007 until December 2008.

In Harrow there was also one officer with four complaints and four officers with three complaints each.

Harrow residents are being urged to inform on graffiti artists in a bid to tackle problem spots across the borough.

Harrow Police are asking community members to take a close look at the vandals' work to see if they recognise the spray painters' images or tags.

Sergeant Paul Culver, at Rayners Lane Safer Neighbourhood Team, launched the project at Churchill Court in North Harrow last Thursday.

He said: "It is an ongoing problem. We had a rise over Christmas, so it suggests it might be young people who were off school.

"People do not like it. Whenever we do surveys and ask people what concerns them, they always say graffiti.

"If someone has pebble-dashed their wall and then they get someone spraying a lot of graffiti it is not very nice.

"It is the first time we have done anything like this. We want to eradicate graffiti and show the public we are taking it seriously."

Graffiti has affected areas across the borough, including Harrow bus station and allotments in west Harrow.

Burglars attempted to raid St John Fisher Roman Catholic Church in Imperial Drive, South Harrow, on Friday 16 January between 7.20 pm and 7.25 pm by smashing a window leading to the bar area.
Police were called and confirmed that the window frame had been forced. The suspects left empty handed, however.

Semi-detached houses in Harrow borough are most likely to be burgled, according to latest police intelligence figures.

Research has also discovered Kenton, Stanmore and Canons Park are the burglary hot spots within the borough at present.

Chief Inspector Louis Smith, who is in charge of intelligence at Harrow Police, has found that 50 per cent of burglaries carried out in the last six months were in semi-detached homes.

He believes this type of property is easier to break into because there is access from both the side and rear. Owners also tend to be more affluent, according to the intelligence officer.

He said: "In the last six months there have been around 700 residential burglaries, 350 of which were semi-detached houses. This is quite a high proportion. Semi-detached homes are the target of the moment.

"The reason they are being hit is probably to do with easy access to the rear of the premises. Flats and terraced houses may present more difficulty to a burglar who wants to break in and not be seen."

According to Chief Inspector Smith, a typical burglary in Harrow happens at a semi-detached house with a flat-roofed single-storey extension that has no alarm. Generally burglars will go to the back of the house and break in via the ground floor, or climb on to the flat roof and in via an upstairs window.

Harrow Police are warning residents to secure their homes to keep burglars out. Chief Inspector Smith also urged people with modern UPVC doors to secure them from the inside by pulling the handle up. He said: "Smashing the glass, removing the pane or just slipping something through the letter box allows the door to be opened very easily, giving the burglar an easy way of removing large items such as TVs and computers.

"Burglary is a crime that can be prevented. It is at its highest in the months of the year with the least daylight. Please help us to help you by taking some simple steps to protect your homes."

Two burglars posed as builders to steal £150 in cash, a bottle of alcohol and cigarettes from a flat in Alexandra Avenue, South Harrow, on Friday, January 9 between 5.30 pm and 6.10pm.

When the suspicious 88-year-old victim asked to see their identification, the duo pushed past him, saying they had to turn his boiler off, and eventually left with the haul.

Both suspects were white, aged 22 to 30, stocky, in dark clothing and with London accents. One wore a black baseball cap.

Police are investigating the theft of a mobile telephone and PDA (personal digital assistant) device from a black Mercedes left parked but unlocked in Worple Way, South Harrow.

On Tuesday December 30, the 43-year-old owner spotted a black man peering into the vehicle from the window of his house, and banged on the glass, forcing the thief to flee