Six arrested over Padgett’s bike thefts

Six men have been arrested in connection with the theft at Christmas of new and classic motorcycles worth £100,000 from the famous Padgett’s Motorcycles in Batley, Yorkshire.

The Padgett’s showrooms were broken into over the Christmas period and 20 bikes of various ages were taken. Some of the bikes were part of the personal collection of Padgett’s founder Peter Padgett and many date back decades.

A series of bikes have been recovered at different addresses in Yorkshire. A 100cc Yamaha was dumped in Tingley at the end of January and a few days later another was recovered. Two motocross bikes were discovered at an address in Morley.

The six people arrested includes a 25-year-old from Tingley, 28-year-old from Thorpe, 61-year-old from Morley and men aged 20, 24 and 29 from Middleton, in Leeds. All have been released on bail pending further enquiries.

Local paper The Yorkshire Evening Post reports local police officer DC Jim Calpin, from Kirklees CID, saying: “Through our investigation into the thefts from Padgetts we have been able to recover a number of motorcycles, but our enquiries are still ongoing to obtain the rest of them for the owner. We are pleased that following successful lines of enquiry we have made six arrests over the past week.

“If anyone has any information about these thefts or the whereabouts of any of the stolen motorcycles, I would encourage them to contact myself via 101 quoting reference 13160004253, orcontact independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 free.”