A motorist has spoken of his anger after his stolen car was held at a police pound for four years and stripped of many of its parts.
Jeremy Pascoe, 42, is suing Thames Valley Police because he says there was so much damage to his Land Rover Discovery, it had to be scrapped.
A dog had been living in the vehicle with a bowl of food left in the boot.
A police spokesman said Mr Pascoe had rejected a compensation offer and it was for the courts to settle the case.
Mr Pascoe's five-year-old Discovery, then worth £8,900, was stolen from outside his home in Cobham, Surrey, in 2004.
'Systematically stripped'
It was recovered by West Midlands Police, but then handed over to Thames Valley Police as evidence in a car theft case.
When Mr Pascoe tried to retrieve the car two years later, the police insisted on keeping it because they said there was a dispute over its ownership.
"This case has been duly considered and compensation was offered to Mr Pascoe - the offer was rejected"
It was finally returned to him in January this year.
"It had been systematically stripped," he said.
"The wing mirrors had gone, the headlights were missing and smashed and every single panel on the car had been targeted, including the roof.
"I think it was harvested for parts or they all went on eBay. There had been a dog living in the car - there was fairly fresh dog food in the back.
"This had happened whilst on a police pound on an army base in Oxfordshire."
When the car was recovered in 2004, a report by West Midlands Police said it had three small scratches on one door and a slightly flat front tyre.
But a report filed earlier this year indicated the car was a write-off.
'No apology'
Last month Mr Pascoe won a court action against Thames Valley Police at Oxford County Court. He is now waiting for a new hearing to find out how much compensation he should receive.
In the meantime, the commercial music company director says he and his wife Rachel, plus daughters Emily, four, and Phoebe, 16 months, have been forced to hire a car.
He said he has rejected a police offer of £1,800 compensation.
"My issue with the police is when the car was recovered and handed to them it was a five-year-old Discovery in very good condition. When it came back it was scrap," he said.
A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said the incident was "regrettable" but until the legal proceedings were over it would not be offering Mr Pascoe an apology.
"This case has been duly considered and compensation was offered to Mr Pascoe. The offer was rejected and it's now for the court to decide the level of payment," he said.
^ Back to top | BBC Sport Home | BBC Homepage | Contact us | Help | ©
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~45~RS~)