Rainham man dragged along ground 'at 40mph' trying to stop van and £3,000 worth of tools being stolen in Upminster

Colin Cooper, a stock development manager at a UK charity, said he took a week off work to fit the kitchen at his daughter’s home in Morden, with help from one of his friends.

He pulled up outside his friend’s house in Upminster on June 11 and began loading some equipment into the back of his van.

CCTV footage of Colin loading tools into his van the morning it was stolen (Image: Colin Cooper)

However, that was when he noticed an indoor light come on and, because his van is keyless, knew someone had gotten in and was preparing to drive off.

Dashing around to the passenger side, Colin said he managed to get halfway in when the person in the driver’s seat put their foot down and dragged Colin down the road “at 40 miles per hour”.

As well as losing his tools, phone, credit card and various other items, Colin also suffered injuries to his head, legs and feet, which he was able to limit by pushing himself away from the moving vehicle.

The police turned up around 15 or 20 minutes later, and he ended up getting taken to Queen’s Hospital to be seen.

On top of the stress of the initial experience and ensuing infection - a result of being dragged along the road by the van - Colin said he feels communication with the police has been poor and he is not hopeful about getting the van or tools back due to what he alleges is officer inaction.

"The whole point of why I am doing this is because I am absolutely disgusted with the way I have been treated," Colin said.

"If they had gotten their finger out, I might have had a chance to get my van back and three grand's worth of tools."

An East Area BCU spokesperson said: “Normal procedure has been followed and an Officer In Case (OIC) allocated to investigate the crime has been in contact with Mr Cooper.

“Enquiries are ongoing and this is a live investigation."