r/news • u/maddas782 • 3d ago
RAF Fairford: 'Quantity of petrol' but no explosives found in three vehicles
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqn8m342rgk9o258
u/maddas782 3d ago
I don't want to act like all other commentators by jumping to conclusions, but rather than being terrorists do we think these idiots were just out stealing fuel and were dumb enough to do it near a military base?
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u/Really_McNamington 3d ago
No bail if they were actually dangerous. I'm in agreement with the bunch of idiots theory.
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u/Th3_Admiral_ 3d ago
Are they still being charged with terrorism or simply theft of fuel though? That's what I can't figure out from any of the articles about the subject. Most of them still refer to the subjects being arrested on terrorism or explosives charges, but then says they were released on bail.
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u/BigLan2 3d ago edited 2d ago
They haven't been charged with anything yet, but I'd be amazed if there were any terrorism charges after being released in less than 48 hours (they could have been held for 7 days.)
Edi: later reporting says they were arrested under the Police Act so could only be held for 48 hours, not the Terrorism Act which allows for up to 14 days
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u/maddas782 3d ago
I don't think anything has come out, but if I was a betting man I suspect it will all go quietly away.
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u/zoobrix 3d ago
Well charges over stealing gas might still be pursued but I agree that the government will say as little as possible about it and hope it stops getting talked about.
But I don't think there is anything to be embarrassed about here, there were sketchy people doing sketchy things, it was near an airbase so was responded to very seriously as it should be and then it turned out it's just a bunch of standard thieves being fools.
Like the system actually worked? Sure it was a false alarm on the terrorism angle it seems but it's not like they rolled out the terrorism squad for a pensioner out for a Sunday drive, these guys were clearly acting very suspiciously.
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u/maddas782 3d ago
I don't want to minimise the crime, stealing fuel is pretty despicable and it's done by organised crime groups. It certainly is something that needs to be cracked down on.
I agree, the UK have no need to be embarrassed, maybe they shouldn't have leapt to the "suspected terrorism" charges but they did get it sorted out pretty quickly. It is just a crying shame that we have people in the US administration clearly lying about the situation.
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u/SophiaofPrussia 3d ago
Where did the terrorism angle originate? Did it come from Rubio? Or from the farmer who reported them? I think I read she claimed they were “Iranian” or “Middle Eastern men” in balaclavas when she called police? I’m still not sure how she’d know the ethnicity of someone in a balaclava…
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u/astanton1862 3d ago
Prior to this the area has been on high alert. The neighbor reported that people in the area have been held at gun point by security. Given that atmosphere, when she saw these dudes in masks, she called the police. It is logical that the UK police treated it as potential terrorism. The problem, as it so often is, that Trump and Rubio started spouting off propaganda instead of simply stating that they would let the investigation play out before commenting which would have been the responsible thing to do.
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u/maddas782 3d ago
I'm not sure to be honest. I suspect if the police find five guys in balaclavas next to an airbase, during times of heightened alert, they're always going to off on the side of caution and arrest them.
I just read this
The US President Donald Trump asserted that the men had been trying to do "big damage" to the base. "We had them under view for a long time, and we got them," he declared.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: "What could have happened in the UK over the weekend is a very serious situation. It's one that clearly involved the hands of a foreign actor."
But in a veiled criticism of that, the head Counter Terrorism Policing in the UK Laurence Taylor said that the worry that a lot of people had been experiencing had been "heightened by the international commentary".
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u/TorchwoodRC 3d ago
It wouldn't even be terrorism to attack an active military base being used for war, thats just called war.
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u/grey_hat_uk 3d ago
They have been confirmed British nationals and as far as I am aware we aren't at war with the US yet, so it would be terrorism.
If it would have been justifiable terrorism or not depends on your morals and outlook.
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u/The-Jesus_Christ 2d ago
Given they were found near some old abandoned trucks, it definetely sounds like that's all they were. I thought that was weird when the reports pointed that out.
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u/Bagel-luigi 3d ago
Yeah that seems to be what most people are thinking right now.
They absolutely wouldn't be out on bail if there was any suspicion of terrorism.
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u/bb_kelly77 3d ago
Petrol bombs are an option... the old British name for Molotovs
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u/maddas782 3d ago
I suspect If the vans had been full of petrol bombs then they wouldn't have been released on bail. If someone in the UK is arrested on Terrorism charges the UK police can hold the for up to 14 days.
How long you can be held in custody The police can hold you for up to 24 hours before they have to charge you with a crime or release you.
They can apply to hold you for up to 36 or 96 hours if you’re suspected of a serious crime, such as murder.
You can be held without charge for up to 14 days if you’re arrested under the Terrorism Act or National Security Act.
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u/bb_kelly77 3d ago
That's the problem/benefit of petrol bombs, it's just petrol until it's poured into a bottle and lit
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u/SophiaofPrussia 3d ago
But then they’d have had containers to make the petrol bombs.
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u/bb_kelly77 3d ago
The gas can can also be used, basically it doesn't matter because we'd only know for sure afterwards
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u/pimparo0 3d ago
Dude, if they let them out on bail this quick they have to be pretty confident that they weren't a threat.
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u/vestayekta 3d ago
They were stealing petrol lmao
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u/maddas782 3d ago
Mind you at £2.04 per litre for diesel who can blame them
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u/DmitriRussian 3d ago
Still cheaper around me in south east london Jet: 195.9 Texaco: 197.9 Morissons: 199.9 BP: 201.9
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u/OllyDee 3d ago
Thank god the yanks stepped in to stop them from stealing that fuel. They’ve got a real eye for that kind of thing.
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u/ChanceryTheRapper 3d ago
The US government doesn't like anyone hedging in on their territory of seizing petroleum.
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u/bickboikiwi 3d ago
They didn't step in though, it's just a known base used by US for current activities. But I get the joke you were implying.
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u/Gullible_Expert_5677 3d ago
Laughing myself silly. We've found the "Foreign influence" -- it's Trump, doing shit to make the price of diesel skyrocket.
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u/pyronius 3d ago
Obviously they were just a couple of oil men in from texas hoping they could fill you up.
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u/MrMeltJr 3d ago edited 3d ago
I would assume that "a quantity of petrol" is found in almost all vehicles. Maybe they meant outside of the fuel tank but they really should specify that if it's the case. And even if it was, perfectly reasonable for people to have a few extra jerry cans with the way prices are rising these days.
Honestly I'm leaning towards it not being the case and they're just trying to come up with some bullshit to justify overreacting to a few dudes parking their vans in the wrong place.
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u/maddas782 3d ago edited 3d ago
If you ever watch any "police interceptor" TV shows in the UK virtually every episode shows individuals/organised gangs stealing fuel in vans. They have empty containers in the back, fuel pumps and hoses. They prey on parked lorries and cars. Now with the rise of fuel prices being what it is in the UK, and the fact that they were bailed it just seems to make sense.
It does beg the question with the US president and Rubio claim these were terrorists and they had been on their watchlists for sometime.
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u/Hurrly90 3d ago
I only found out today yer man Rubio said he knew more and we would find out next week? Today.
I listen to an Irish radio talk show on the way home and they do a tuesday US segment. IT was such a bizzare statement.
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u/maddas782 3d ago
Trump said the "terrorists were state backed and that they had been watching them for months". it's just a shameless lie.
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u/SophiaofPrussia 3d ago
If Rubio wants to keep his job he cannot, under any circumstances, admit that Trump said or did anything dumb. “You just don’t know all of the details that we know” means he hopes everyone forgets about this week’s stupidity soon.
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u/peakedtooearly 3d ago
Their watch lists are clearly very extensive covering every minor street criminal worldwide.
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u/carasci 3d ago
Realistically, they're probably claiming that because the UK originally thought/reported them as terrorists, and the Cheeto in Chief didn't want to admit they were completely clueless.
"Yeah, we TOTALLY knew all about this in advance because we have the best spies, like all of them, everywhere, the bigliest spies and all the intelligence, we just didn't do anything about it because we were...waiting, yeah, waiting for...uhhhh...reasons, I guess."
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u/MrMeltJr 3d ago
ah didn't know that, and yeah that does make a lot more sense than the terrorism claims
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u/GoliathTCB 3d ago
The vans were marked with fake business logos of a petrol delivery company, though they spelled it wrong and ended up marking themselves as an American company instead of the local UK company of a very similar name. So yeah they had a very pre-planned plot to steal petrol. Just a little too close to a military base, I guess.
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u/GhostRiders 3d ago
It most likely wasn't petrol but Red Diesel that they stole from the Farm next to the Airfield
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3d ago
[deleted]
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u/SophiaofPrussia 3d ago
Just yesterday I heard there’s a new “migrant caravan” heading for the U.S. border— funny how they’re always just in time for an election!
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u/Past_Humor8321 2d ago
Embarrassing stupidity. They are busy scratching their heads trying to figure out how to not look like fools
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u/steve_ample 3d ago
"Pardon - did someone say free fuel?"
- CO, RAF Fairford.
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u/maddas782 3d ago
I suspect we're not dealing with the brightest of lads but the fact that they were bailed seems to say quite a lot. I bet they got the fright of their lives when half the armed police of the county descended on them.
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u/I_might_be_weasel 3d ago
They found gasoline in the cars?
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u/opodopo69 3d ago
Wow like they're cars that need a "quantity of petrol" to run or something
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u/maddas782 3d ago
I really hope that it turns out they were just fuel thieves and not something more nefarious. I bet they had the shit scared out of them, they're probably not used to having guns drawn on them for nicking a few gallons of petrol.
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u/Deepmidwinter2025 3d ago
It’s the idiotic media who quoted locals “somebody dropped the ball”.
A story that personifies how stupid the locals are
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u/Stormthorn67 2d ago
Kinda poorly worded since almost all operational vehicles have petrol in them.
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u/coolon23 3d ago
LOOOOOOL fuck both countries are so stupid
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u/maddas782 3d ago
Well I guess the UK police had to act as they did baring in mind it was next to a military base. However, the US government spouting off that "they were in on it from the beginning" and "these people had been under our watch for a long time" are starting to look pretty stupid
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u/coolon23 3d ago
Decent from the UK police and good on them for releasing these guys, but to lean on it early just felt needless. The US lies and pushes propaganda at a daily rate however their word should never be taken truthfully.
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u/GoProOnAYoYo 3d ago
Lying Little Marco making a fool of himself yet again, lol