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Mechanical doping: Rider’s father and brother charged with stealing rare birds

Said to have been caught on CCTV half-inching a pair of Lancashire parakeets

The story grows increasingly weird. The father and brother of the rider accused of concealing a motor in her bike at the Cyclo-cross World Championships are said to be facing criminal charges for attempting to steal rare birds from a Belgian pet shop.

According to HLN.be, the owner of De Gouldamandine in Varsenare, Patricia Inghelbrecht, says that Femke Van den Driessche’s father, Peter; her brother, Niels; and a third man, were caught on CCTV taking a pair of parakeets.

All our mechanical doping coverage here

The development casts doubt on Peter Van den Driessche’s honesty, after he insisted the bike with the motor was not his daughter’s.

“That family is good for nothing," remarked Inghelbrecht.

The theft took place on February 20, 2015. The three men waited until Inghelbrecht was serving a customer and then opened a cage and put the birds in bags.

"They thanked me for letting them have a quick look around. I had no idea. The parakeets were silent, because it was dark in the bags, and they thought it was night."

In light of the behaviour of Femke’s family, it’s clear Ingelbrecht doesn’t give much credence to the cyclist’s defence.

"It’s clear there’s nothing they won’t stoop to. It just so happens that a bike that looks like hers was put in the pit. Even with the theft here in the store they were very cool going about their business. In the pictures you can see how the father Peter looks around the corner then gives a signal to his son and his friend to strike.”

The birds, Lancashire parakeets (which are no doubt pining for the mills), are worth four hundred euros and are mainly used for breeding purposes. Fortunately for Ingelbrecht, the pair has now been returned.

If the three thieves are convicted, they risk prison sentences of between one month and five years with the court also able to impose fines of up to 3,000 euros.

We presume that reports of a Van den Driessche family reality TV programme going into production are satirical – but at the same time, little would surprise us at this stage.

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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13 comments

Avatar
fenix | 8 years ago
0 likes

Paracetamol. Excellent!

Avatar
nniff | 8 years ago
3 likes

Two parakeets sitting on a perch

'Can you smell something fishy?' says one

 

 

I'm here all week......

 

 

Avatar
Leodis | 8 years ago
2 likes

What a family... Stealing birds, one brother banned for EPO doping and one daughter broke the cherry on tech cheating...  Jesus, they give the Dingles a good name.

Avatar
mrchrispy | 8 years ago
3 likes

maybe they needed them to cover up doping....a handy way of getting rid of spare gear...you know....because the paracetamol.

 

 

eh? 

 

 

eh?

 

 

comedy gold that!!!!

Avatar
ColT | 8 years ago
7 likes

Wot! No gags about a cock or two?  I feel let down. 

Avatar
cdamian | 8 years ago
3 likes

Without mechanical doping there really would be nothing to write about.

It's not like there are races going on, people having fun on bikes or any new products to dream about.

Avatar
PaulBox | 8 years ago
4 likes

Wow, road.cc sinks below the Daily Mail...

Avatar
geargrinderbeard replied to PaulBox | 8 years ago
4 likes

PaulBox wrote:

Wow, road.cc sinks below the Daily Mail...

I'm with you on that. I don't think I want to visit this website any more in case I see any more advertorials for the Vivax Assist...

Avatar
bikebot replied to PaulBox | 8 years ago
6 likes

PaulBox wrote:

Wow, road.cc sinks below the Daily Mail...

But I still don't know how much their house is worth!

Avatar
PaulBox replied to bikebot | 8 years ago
0 likes

bikebot wrote:

PaulBox wrote:

Wow, road.cc sinks below the Daily Mail...

But I still don't know how much their house is worth!

Lol, or their ancestors nationalities...

Avatar
Dnnnnnn replied to bikebot | 8 years ago
0 likes

bikebot wrote:

PaulBox wrote:

Wow, road.cc sinks below the Daily Mail...

But I still don't know how much their house is worth!

You need the Evening Standard for that

Avatar
bikebot replied to Dnnnnnn | 8 years ago
0 likes

Duncann wrote:

bikebot wrote:

PaulBox wrote:

Wow, road.cc sinks below the Daily Mail...

But I still don't know how much their house is worth!

You need the Evening Standard for that

Now you're being silly, no one actually lives in the homes featured in the Evening Standard.

Avatar
Dnnnnnn | 8 years ago
0 likes

How small are those cages?? 

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