Police gave up on finding phone or bag thief ever SIX minutes over the past year, damning figures reveal

COPS gave up on finding a phone or bag thief every six minutes last year. A Sun on Sunday trawl of police figures found 87,514 of 100,976 recorded “theft from the person” offences ended with no suspect identified. Police gave up on finding phone or bag thief ever SIX minutes over the past year Former Met detective Peter Bleksley said the failure damages public confidence Credit: Arthur Edwards / The Sun In 11,932 cases, police were unable to prosecute a suspect, while 92 were given a caution. Overall, police closed an investigation without finding a suspect 240 times a day — or one every six minutes. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Former Met detective Peter Bleksley said the failure damages public confidence. He added: “In many cases, police close the investigation without even opening it. “If people are not caught for these crimes, they will push boundaries further and steal even more.” The top 23 theft areas in the country were all in London, with Leeds city centre next. Worst was the West End with 10,579 thefts reported and 10,091 unsolved. Just 52 suspects were taken to court. The Met said: “Recent figures show theft from the person has fallen 23 per cent in London, more than 23,000 fewer offences.” Most read in The Sun Hatton, Stretton and Walton in Cheshire saw all 43 reported thefts unsolved. Zero out of 32 were solved in Stanmer, East Sussex. Comment now