Shocking number of theft investigations closed EVERY DAY before suspect found | Politics | News

More than 3,346 theft investigations were closed every day before a suspect was identified last year, the Daily Express has revealed.

Police shelved an average of 801 burglary investigations, 323 burglary cases and 758 vehicle-related thefts each day of the year through September.

A staggering 1,221,526 theft investigations (70% of reports) were canceled before a suspect could be identified, while another 279,265 theft investigations collapsed due to lack of evidence.

This is almost double the 153,799 in the year to September 2015.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “Labour cut police numbers by 1,300 last year alone. The result has been a record-high rise in shoplifting and a failure to properly investigate crimes.

“Shamefully, Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood plans to allow even further cuts to overall police numbers this year and ban sentences of less than one year, allowing shoplifters to avoid prison altogether.

“Shabana Mahmood is letting criminals go free by not investigating crimes properly. Mahmood’s plans will turn Britain’s streets and shops into lawless ghettos, like some US cities that foolishly follow these soft policies.”

The Ministry of Internal Affairs said that in the year to September only 7.8% of crimes resulted in a suspect being charged.

Separate figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed shoplifting rose from 492,660 in September 2024 to 519,381 by September.

But this is a slight decrease from the update earlier this year, when officers recorded 530,439 crimes by March 2025.

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Max Wilkinson MP said: “Shop shoplifting has become the new normal and small business owners are paying the price.

“Years of Tory failure have left neighborhood policing frustrated, communities exposed and crimes such as shoplifting going unpunished. Despite promising change, the Labor government is not moving fast enough to repair the damage.”

“Independent retailers are doing everything they can to keep our high streets vibrant, but they are seeing their livelihoods undermined by this daily crime. The government must use upcoming reforms to deliver on our call for Pledge to Police, which reinstates visible community policing to rebuild public trust and keep thieves off our streets.”

New figures published on Thursday revealed that the number of rapes and sexual assaults reported to police has reached new records.

Officers recorded 214,816 sexual offenses, including 74,265 rapes.

Statisticians said that 499 murders were recorded until September, the lowest number since 2003.

The Office for National Statistics said knife crime fell 9% to 50,430.

ONS figures show 43 per cent of crimes were attacks “with intent to cause serious harm” and 41 per cent were linked to robberies.

Knife murders fell 23% to 174, according to ONS statistics.

Police opened 82,678 robbery investigations in the year to September, down from 82,354 in the previous 12 months.

Separate figures from the ONS Crime Survey for England and Wales also suggested bank and credit card fraud had risen by 19% in the year to September, reaching 2.6 million incidents.

Overall, he claimed, there were 4 million 153 thousand fraud cases last year; in the previous 12 months this rate was 8%.

Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood said: “We are having real success tackling the crime that terrorizes communities. Murders are at their lowest level for almost 50 years. Knife crime continues to fall.”

“But crimes that tear at the fabric of communities, such as shoplifting and shoplifting, continue to rise and we must do more.

“That’s why we’ve deployed 13,000 more neighborhood police officers and invested £2bn more in forces across the country since we took office.

“But we must also reform policing. This week we identified reforms that will strengthen neighborhood policing.

“Local forces will focus on providing security in their areas and protecting their communities.

“A new National Police Force will fight crime across the country and across borders and protect us all.”