Police are failing to solve three out of four car thefts, figures reveal
POLICE are failing to solve three out of four car thefts, figures show.
More than 100,000 vehicles were taken without any culprit being identified in the 12 months to June.
The figure was up by a fifth from the previous year.
In total, 107,451 reports of stolen cars went unsolved — 77 per cent of all cases.
The proportion soared to 86 per cent for the Met police force in the Greater London area.
The South Yorkshire and Essex forces each had 83 per cent of car thefts unsolved.
Just four per cent of cases nationwide resulted in someone being charged or summonsed.
Analysis of Home Office figures by the Lib Dems show an average of 5,916 crimes are going unsolved every day.
It represents a ten per cent increase on last year.
Lib Dem Home Affairs spokesman Alistair Carmichael said: “With the vast majority of burglaries and car thefts continuing to go unsolved, it is clear that the Conservatives are failing to get the basics right when it comes to stopping crime. Thousands of victims are being cruelly denied justice and left feeling unsafe in their own home as criminals get let off the hook every day.
“Yet the Home Secretary seems to be asleep at the wheel as communities pay the price.”
Meanwhile, thefts of caravans and motorhomes have trebled in some parts of Britain as crooks cash in on the camping staycation boom, police figures show.