Electrician wires up his van to give tool thieves a 1,000-volt shock after he had £5,000 of gear stolen and police say it is perfectly legal
- Ray Taylor fitted the device after thieves stole his tools over a period of two years
- The 61-year-old has now patented the design and it fitting them for £380
- Thieves will get a 120 decibel shock if they try and get into the vehicle
By Terri-ann Williams For Mailonline
Published: 19:24 EDT, 31 July 2019 | Updated: 03:37 EDT, 1 August 2019
Ray Taylor (pictured above) was fed up of thieves stealing tools from his van so decided to fit a 1,000-volt shock to its door
An electrician who became disgruntled after he had £5,000 of gear taken from his van has wired up his vehicle to give tool thieves a 1,000-volt shock.
Ray Taylor took the step after losing the expensive equipment over a period of two years and police have said the process is perfectly legal.
The 61-year-old fitted the system to accompany a siren which is already fitted in his Citroen Dispatch.
Mr Taylor from Wolverhampton said that if the sirens don’t scare the wannabe thieves then the shock will.
‘They’ll get a zap’, he told The Sun.
Those trying to break into the van will be hit with a shock from a ‘live’ door handle.
As well as this intruders will be faced with a siren and two fire arm-like sound bombs.
Combined they cause a 120 decibel din, which is said to be the equivalent to a jumbo jet taking off.
Mr Taylor added: ‘It’s solved all my problems, so I can sleep easy.
Mr Taylor said that thieves will ‘get a zap’ next time they try to get into his van where he keeps his work equiptment
Mr Taylor posted the pictures of his new system to Facebook and said police stated he could use it as long as they put a warning on
Mr Taylor had previously posted images to his Facebook page of alleged thieves getting into his van
‘The shock isn’t going to do any lasting damage but it will make you jump a bit.’
Mr Taylor, who has copyrighted his design and is now charging £380 to fit similar systems, fitted a 1,000-volt zapper from a fly swatter to a metal plate in the rear door of the vehicle.
What do the police say about fitting volts to vehicles?
In a Facebook post last month Mr Taylor stated that the volt-zapper was a new addition to his car to stop thieves.
He claims that ‘police said it can be used as long as I put a sign on the van’.
This means that as long as it is cleary stated that the volts are running through the van, that Mr Taylor is not partaking in illegal activity.
However, local police said they would not endorse this.
The positioning of the zapper means the shock is isolate to the handle and the rest of the van is not live.
Both the sound bombs, as well as the siren, the zapper and a strobe light, are all part of the same circuit which is fitted to a switch in the cabin.
Once someone tries to pull on the handle the switch is activated through sensors attached to the van’s door.
Mr Taylor added that police told him it was legal, on the condition he put a clear warning sign on the vehicle.
Under the handle, he has a warning which reads ‘Danger Live Terminals’.
Local police service West Midlands Police said they would not endorse using such tactics.
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