Nissan Helps Youngsters Steer Clear of Car Crime

- To Donate Qashqai to Lancaster Farms Young Offenders Institution

On Thursday, members of Nissan Motor Co.'s anti-theft engineering group at Nissan Technical Centre Europe will hand over the keys to a Nissan Qashqai to Her Majesty's Young Offenders Institution Lancaster Farms. The donation is part of the company's continued support for the "Nissan Car Crime Awareness" course at the Lancashire County-based facility in northwest England.

The course, which is administered by prison officers Neil Dainty and Dave Phelan, aims to keep youngsters on the straight and narrow after their time in prison by:

- making young people come to terms with their offending behaviour

- giving them a greater understanding about the cost & effects of car crime

- offering them basic training in vehicle maintenance and possibly an interest in the motor trade.

Masterminded in 1997 by Neil Sowerby, a prison officer who identified the high rate of vehicle crime among young offenders, the course has gone on to win recognition as best practice within the Prison Service and is OCN (Open College Network) accredited. The course has been developed with the technical and professional assistance of the UK Ambulance Service, the Fire & Rescue Service, the Police, the Prison Service Education Dept. and the Prison Service Social Services.

For Nissan, vehicle security has always been a high priority. Since 1996 NTCE has employed specialist anti-theft engineers to advise and assist in the design of its systems and today has a dedicated anti-theft department based at Nissan's Technical Centre in Cranfield, Bedfordshire. The team manages all aspects of anti-theft operations and design across Europe and recently had their role expanded to cover global market research and global strategy development for Nissan.

The team has carried out extensive research into all aspects of vehicle theft in countries around the world, including Russia, USA, China, Western Europe, South Africa, Mexico and Hungary, and works closely with Thatcham, the Association of British Insurers, Allianz in Germany, SFA in France and Russian Insurers to improve the cost of ownership to Nissan customers. The team also has close links to UK Police Forces and Her Majesty's Prison Service, as well as International Police and Law Enforcement Agencies.