“When I reported it to the gardaí, there was somebody reporting a theft of a scooter at the same time,” says Colm Stephens.
The manager of Trinity College Dublin’s school of physics went through the “stages of grief” when his €3,000 bike was stolen in June.
“I got a notification two weeks later that it had been entered on the [Garda] Pulse system,” he says adding: “Two weeks in the theft of a bike is a long time.”
New figures show more than 25,000 bike thefts have been reported to gardaí since 2019; however, campaigners estimate just one in four thefts are reported.
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Dr Stephens (65), from Drumcondra, has been cycling since he was a teenager and commutes by bike to work daily.
“Bike theft itself goes through phases, in my experience,” he says. At one stage, 10 or 20 years ago, it was rampant and bikes were being stolen all over the place.”
[ More than 25,000 bike thefts reported to gardaí since 2019Opens in new window ]
Now, he says, theft is more targeted, with the introduction of more “desirable” enhanced and expensive bikes.
In June, he left his bike at what he thought was a secure, designated parking area outside a building on TCD’s campus, using a high-quality lock.
“I came out in the evening at about 5.30pm and it was gone,” he says. “The lock had been cut neatly with an angle grinder.
“You’re in a stage of shock initially and you go through those stages of grief almost. You blame yourself.”
[ Bike theft: Don’t be a have-a-go hero, gardaí tell cyclistsOpens in new window ]
The following day, and just around the corner from where his bike had been stolen, Dr Stephens came across another cut lock left behind, and while reporting his own theft to gardaí, overheard a report of a theft of a scooter nearby on Westland Row.
“It looked like somebody moved in and did a sweep of whatever they wanted to rob,” he says.
He reported the theft to campus security and gardaí, and despite his bike being parked underneath a CCTV camera which would have recorded the bike being taken away, he cannot access the footage.
“The only people who are allowed to view that footage are the gardaí, under GDPR rules,” he says.
“I replaced it with a cheaper bike because there’s no point in having such an expensive one. There’s a very real chance my replacement bike will be stolen at some stage.
Dr Stephens now brings his bike into his office, alongside many other staff members who do the same “just because of theft”.
“I was perhaps very naive leaving a €3,000 bike locked outside a building under a CCTV camera,” he says.
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