A man has been convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 11 years in prison with the help of evidence gleaned from a ‘black box’ system inside the car he was driving.

Daniel Paita, 32, attacked a man in Glasgow in February last year but didn’t realise a telematics system was installed in the hire car he was driving.

There were no witnesses to the attack other than the victim himself but the device, which can monitor almost every aspect of a car’s electronics, pinpointed his location despite Paita claiming he was not in the area on the day.  

The evidence collected by the device was passed onto the police by one of the UK’s most successful motor anti-fraud teams, Asset Protection Unit Ltd (APU), which now works closely with police forces to reduce motor fraud. 

APU cooperates with police forces in accordance with current legislation and Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) guidelines to increase the likelihood of identifying motor fraud.

After Paita was sentenced on Thursday December 19, 2013 at The High Court, Edinburgh,  APU’s Neil Thomas was clear about the role telematics can play and the benefits of private anti-fraud teams cooperating with the police.

Thomas said: “It is extremely pleasing to have been an important cog in convicting an individual like this, it might never have happened at all had the device not been installed in his car. They are able to generate data about the inner workings of a vehicle but also show its location at any time, which is a great help to us, the police and victims if vehicles are used for criminal activity.

“APU works closely with several police forces in accordance with guidelines to share intelligence; it makes their job easier and increases the chance of identifying and convicting criminals.”

APU also works with telematics provider In-Car Cleverness which provides state-of-the-art technology capable of monitoring the mechanical health and whereabouts of vehicles.

In certain cases, by sharing APU’s intelligence database, the police can access an investigative tool which saves time and money by helping to secure compelling evidence.

Set up originally to protect the vehicle fleet assets of the Automotive & Insurance Solutions Group (AIS), APU now works with solicitors, insurance companies, credit hire organisations and the police to reduce motor fraud activity.

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