Illegal Immigration & Crime Chaos in EU Countries just in past few days

Surely this is the most comprehensive list of the ongoing destruction of Western civilization throughout Europe that has ever been assembled. It is impossible to read all of this – but even a fast-paced scroll gives you all of the information you need…..C.Baker

UNITED KINGDOM

NHS staff crisis as 25% of student nurses drop out;  With the National Health Service (NHS) struggling to cope with a huge shortfall of nurses – estimated at 40,000 in England alone – the issue is more pressing than ever.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1012134/NHS-staff-crisis-25-percent-student-nurses-drop-out

Scotland’s nurses at ‘breaking point’ as vacancies rise to record levels;  more than one in 20 nursing and midwifery posts in NHS Scotland are vacant – the highest ever level.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/09/04/scotlands-nurses-breaking-point-vacancies-rise-record-levels/

Number of doctors opting for early retirement doubles, amid pension clampdown;  Medics blamed stress, and said they were increasingly overloaded

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/09/04/number-doctors-opting-early-retirement-doubles-amid-pension/

FEARS are mounting over a new “Manchester-style attack” – after the defence secretary warned about links between UK terror cells and Islamic State fighters regrouping in Afghanistan;  government acknowledged threats posed by links between the emerging threat in that country and terror cells in the UK.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1012327/UK-terror-warning-Islamic-State-Manchester-attack-terrorist-attack

FINALLY! British jihadists who fight with ISIS in warzones to face 10 years in jail;  A total of 360 jihadists were allowed to go free, after officials deemed there was insufficient evidence to prosecute them;  Javid has called for an amendment to the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill, calling for measures to imprison any Briton travelling to terror-ridden countries without reasonable grounds.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/09/06/returning-british-jihadists-could-face-ten-years-prison/

Two men accused of jointly plotting a terror attack were attempting to manufacture an explosive device involving a DRIVERLESS CAR to spare their own lives;  the pair were supporters of terrorist organisation Islamic State;  three air rifles, two Samurai swords, a wine bottle full of sulphuric acid, homemade fireworks, gunpowder, and “a variety of improvised homemade fuses” were discovered at their properties

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/terrorism-plot-driverless-car-explosive-device-bomb-chesterfield-sheffield-a8523101.html

Paramedics furious as ‘senseless’ thugs pelt ambulance with eggs and flour while on call in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1012831/Peterborough-news-Ambulance-pelted-with-eggs-and-flour-while-on-call-out

SCARRED FOR LIFE: Acid attacks in the UK – where have they been carried out and is London the worst affected city?

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4016850/acid-attacks-uk-london-statistics-westbourne-grove/

Seventeen men and a woman have appeared in court charged with offences linked to child sexual exploitation in West Yorkshire;  The Muslim group are among 31 people accused of offences including the rape and trafficking of five girls, aged 12 to 18, in the Huddersfield area between 2005 and 2012.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/sep/05/child-sexual-exploitation-18-people-appear-in-huddersfield-court

London bloodbath MAPPED: How capital has been overrun by VIOLENT GANGS;  LONDON has been overrun by more than 200 violent gangs locked in deadly turf wars with their names and territories laid bare for the first time in this colour-coded map

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1014572/london-news-london-knife-crime-map-gangs-murder-sadiq-khan

London murder victim confirmed – full victim list REVEALED;  THE NUMBER of people murdered in London so far this year has reached the milestone of 100 after a woman was killed in a suspected arson attack on a Woolwich town house last night, and the capital’s crime epidemic continues.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1014242/London-Bloodbath-100-murdered-knife-gun-2018-capital-crime-epidemic-victims

London BLOODBATH: Home ‘FIREBOMBED by masked moped thugs’ in Woolwich  – one woman dead, two others injured;  comes after a 22-year-old man was shot dead in Tottenham on September 3, with police launching a murder probe, and a woman in her twenties was shot in the abdomen in Woolwich on September 5;  A teenager was stabbed in another attack in Romford on Wednesday.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1014388/london-news-woolwich-firebomb-murder-metropolitan-police

LONDON BLOODBATH: Teenager arrested after man in his 40’s seriously injured in Erith knife attack on a busy street in Erith, south east London

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1014617/london-news-erith-west-street-stabbing-london-knife-crime-met-police

CRAWLEY town centre West Sussex was on lockdown tonight as police and the bomb squad investigated

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1014156/crawley-police-controlled-explosion-bomb-scare-latest

London bloodbath: Teen stabbed in neck, chest, arm and leg in the attack in Harold Hill, Romford, east London, last night as police hunt moped gang;  Romford is on the London-Essex border and is a moped-crime hotspot with riders wreaking havoc on residents.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1014089/london-news-romford-harold-hill-stabbing-met-police-latest

London shooting: Young woman GUNNED down in Woolwich, south east London, shot in the abdomen;  A crime scene is currently in place and officers from Greenwich are investigating; The shooting comes less than a week after a boy was left in critical condition after being shot in Wandsworth.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1013629/London-shooting-woman-shot-woolwich-south-london-met-police-news-london-crime

London bloodbath: 37-year-old man stabbed at Hammersmith Eventim Apollo in west London during awards ceremony;  There have been no arrests. Enquiries continue.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/sep/06/man-stabbed-at-grime-music-award-ceremony-in-west-london

London stabbing HORROR: Man rushed to hospital after Whitton railway station attack;  A MAN is in hospital after being stabbed near Whitton railway station in south-west London, with the attacker on the run from police.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1013565/London-stabbing-Whitton-train-station-British-Transport-Police-attack-crime-Twickenham

CRIMEWAVE BRITAIN: Police officer knifed during violent carjacking attempt on a busy shopping street in Great Barr, BIRMINGHAM, in a failed car-jacking attempt.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1013487/uk-crime-great-barr-stabbing-birmingham-carjacking

Teenager FIGHTING for his life after being STABBED ‘multiple times’ in Islington

A TEENAGER has been stabbed multiple times on York Way, a major road in Islington, North London

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7179068/teenager-18-left-fighting-for-his-life-after-being-stabbed-multiple-times-in-north-london/

Essex stabbing: Man attacked with SAMURAI SWORD in broad daylight at Northlands Park in Basildon, Essex

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1013006/basildon-stabbing-northlands-park-samurai-sword-essex-police

Crazed mob pelt police with BRICKS as armed officers hunt Birmingham shootingsuspects;  Armed officers were deployed to Greaves Square in the in Kings Norton, BIRMINGHAM area last night when a man suffered gunshot wounds.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1012865/birmingham-news-britain-crime-wave-police-attack

London acid attack: Three hurt in Westbourne Grove, near Notting Hill, in west London, after ‘noxious substance’ thrown on crowd;  the UK has one of the highest rates of acid attacks per capita in the world, according to Acid Survivors Trust International (ASTI);  Statistics from Scotland Yard show there were 465 attacks with a “corrosive liquid” recorded in London in 2017, up from 397 in 2016.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/london-acid-attack-latest-westbourne-grove-victims-injured-met-police-liquid-a8522481.html

Westminster alert after ‘intruder in a camouflage jacket JUMPS fence’ outside House of Parliament, London – man arrested at scene

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1012459/parliament-fence-man-arrested-police-incident-westminster

Family watched as four axe-wielding burglars raided their home in terrifying doorbell footage streamed onto a mobile phone app;  theft happened in Bexley, south London, no one was inside at the time;  thieves eventually break into the semi-detached house by taking a running jump at the front door;  suspects, who are still at large, escaped with cash and jewellery. The footage was filmed via a camera on the doorbell, which is then sent to smartphones and tablets.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/09/03/family-watch-axe-wielding-burglars-raid-south-london-home-terrifying/

BBC bomb threat: Bomb squad scrambled to BBC offices in London;  A POLICE bomb disposal team carried out three controlled explosions outside the BBC’s central London offices;  BBC staff reported hearing three loud blasts as the controlled explosions were carried out.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1012417/bbc-bomb-threat-london-news-duchess-street-portland-place

A 22-YEAR-OLD man has been shot dead at Tottenham Cemetery in north Londonas a wave of violent crime continues to sweep the capital.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1012380/london-news-tottenham-cemetery-shooting-met-police-latest

Glasgow school BOMB THREAT: Academy evacuated and pupils sent home as police search school;  “The incident is being treated as malicious and will be fully investigated.”

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1012285/school-evacuated-Rosshall-Academy-glasgow-uk-terror

London:  12 fire engines battle FIRE at Dagenham primary school;  school is closed for summer holidays but students had been due to return tomorrow.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/dagenham-school-fire-latest-roding-primary-london-hewett-road-a8521716.html

Serial rapist jailed for life after being bailed SIX TIMES by police;  Judge Batty said: “I have no idea why the police didn’t charge him at any stage for any of the offences;  “He kept being arrested for raping woman and yet he still goes out to commit the last offence on a woman in her own home.”

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1014471/serial-rapist-jailed-life-Carl-Hartley-leeds

Nine out of ten car thieves are not caught as the number of vehicles stolen increases;  some of the country’s largest police forces are failing to identify suspects in more than 90 per cent of car thefts;  Organised criminal gangs often steal high value cars in order to ship them overseas.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/09/06/nine-ten-car-thieves-not-caught-number-vehicles-stolen-increases/

Call for all university staff to get suicide prevention training;  Guidance from Universities UK and charity Papyrus seeks to halt rise in student deaths;  Suicide is the main cause of death in people under 35, with more than 1,600 cases in the UK every year.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/sep/05/call-for-university-staff-to-get-mandatory-suicide-training

The bike-sharing operator Mobike is pulling out of Manchester this week because of “unsustainable” losses from theft and vandalism – the first time the Chinese firm has abandoned a city because of antisocial behaviour.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/sep/05/theft-and-vandalism-drive-mobike-out-of-manchester

SPAIN

A man was shot dead by police officers at a Barcelona city police station after he pull out a knife and shouted ‘Allah’ and other words officers could not understand;  The city  police are treating it as a terrorist incident.

https://www.costa-news.com/latest-news/man-with-knife-shot-at-barcelona-police-station/

SPANISH police have arrested 10 migrants accused of burning them with acid and quicklime to try to storm a fence at Ceuta separating Africa from European soil;  All 10 are sub-Saharan Africans;  They were held this morning on suspicion of membership of a criminal gang, criminal damage and assaulting police officers.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1009459/migrant-crisis-spain-cueta-morocco-acid-attack

THE GUARDIA civil arrested three men of Algerian origin (two of them with Spanish nationality) in Alicante in connection with at least 50 burglaries in the Calpe and Benissa areas. The three, aged 26, 28 and 54 years, are charged with 50 robberies, six vehicle thefts, three crimes of vehicle registration theft, various crimes of forgery, and belonging to a criminal organisation

https://www.costa-news.com/latest-news/arrests-made-over-at-least-50-burglaries-in-calpe-and-benissa/

Madrid counts 10,000 unaccompanied minor migrants without their parents on Spanish soil

https://www.thelocal.es/20180905/10000-unaccompanied-minor-migrants-in-spain

More than 600 migrants were rescued in the Mediterranean on Monday as they attempted to make the perilous crossing to Spain, the coastguard said;  While the overall number of migrants reaching Europe by sea is down from a peak in 2015, Spain has seen a steady increase in arrivals this year and has overtaken Italy as the preferred destination for people desperate to reach the continent.

https://www.expatica.com/new/es/news/more-than-600-migrants-rescued-off-spain-in-one-day-52364/

Smuggler’s car cut open to free migrant hidden under dashboard;  Officers at the Morocco-Melilla border post noticed the odd behaviour of the car passengers, astonished to find there was a sub-Saharan man, lying lodged under the car’s dashboard. 

https://archive.euroweeklynews.com/news/on-euro-weekly-news/spain-news-in-english/1473756-guardia-civil-slice-smuggler%E2%80%99s-car-open-to-free-migrant-trapped-under-the-dashboard

A DRUG gang which was smuggling hashish from North Africa to San Pedro del Pinatar marina has been taken down;  Galician drug lords provided a ‘super boat’ to run shipments from Africa.

https://www.costa-news.com/costa-blanca-south/galician-hashish-gang-busted-on-mar-menor/

Spanish police said Monday they have seized 67 kilogrammes (148 pounds) of cocaine found inside dozens of hollowed-out pineapples at Madrid’s main wholesale fruit and vegetable market. 

https://www.expatica.com/new/es/news/spanish-police-seize-cocaine-stuffed-pineapples-2-50677/

Hackers from the Anonymous collective claimed responsibility for bringing down government websites in Spain in a protest against Madrid’s efforts to block Catalonia’s separatist drive.

https://www.thelocal.es/20180821/anonymous-hackers-target-spain-sites-in-catalonia-protest

A BOAT carrying dozens of migrants took holidaymakers by surprise by landing on a popular Spanish beach before dozens of young men ran onto shore – the second similar incident taking place in just two days.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1010209/eu-migrant-crisis-boat-fontanilla-spain-latest

Guardia Civil officers discovered more than 60kgs of cannabis hidden instead heavy machine en route to Britain via a cargo flight from Madrid airport, they traced the smuggling attempt back to a British gang running operations from a Benidorm campsite.

https://www.thelocal.es/20180903/spanish-police-bust-benidorm-campsite-drug-gang

ITALY

Matteo Salvini, the interior minister:  Italy will pull out of the European Union’s search and rescue mission in the Mediterranean unless other EU countries agree to allow rescued migrants to land at their ports rather than just Italian ones.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/08/30/italy-threatens-pull-eu-migrant-rescue-missions/

Italy’s government moved to prevent people convicted of serious corruption from ever working with the state again with a bill it says will save billions of euros;  The so-called “bribe destroyer” or “spazzacorrotti” bill is a brainchild of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, which took office after campaigning against the rampant corruption that has characterized Italian politics in the past;  Five-star has governed in a coalition with the far-right League party since June.

http://www.foreigndesknews.com/news/politics/italy-moves-against-corruption/

A 50-year-old Tunisian man has been reported by police to criminal prosecutors for allegedly beating his 20-year-old daughter and threatening to kill her for being ‘too western’.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2018/09/05/man-cited-for-death-threat-on-too-western-daughter_b576c29d-6a09-4b7e-8dc0-067e308998c0.html

Judge upheld the arrest warrants of the four people smugglers piloting the migrant boat that was rescued by the coast guard ship Diciotti;  The four, three Egyptians and a Bangladeshi, are accused of conspiracy to favour clandestine immigration and sexual violence.

https://www.thelocal.it/20180827/four-suspected-people-smugglers-human-trafficking-diciotti-migrants-italy

Forty migrants who were transferred from the Diciotti coast guard ship to a Church-run migrant centre at Rocca Di Papa south of Rome have left the centre and are missing, interior ministry sources said

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2018/09/05/40-diciotti-migrants-missing_f3dcf65a-d895-426d-9d73-814f1cb38ccf.html

Three young men arrested last week for allegedly raping two underage tourists a month ago at Menaggio on Lake Como;  The three are a 22-year-old Italian from the Valtellina, Nicholas Pedrotti, and two foreigners with regular residence permits

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2018/09/03/3-nabbed-for-abusing-2-minors-freed_a533fe72-4127-4940-8fdb-ca09cf5d978f.html

Two men were hurt by gunshot in two separate incidents on the outskirts of Rome Monday.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2018/09/03/men-hurt-by-gunshot-in-rome_ad9f4703-0c3e-49b7-b0fd-e0a84486a4c8.html

Italian police on Thursday arrested an Italian and a Nigerian accused of sexual violence and grievous bodily harm against a 21-year-old woman;  attack took place in Parma;  abused the woman for five hours, sexually assaulting and torturing her while continuing to take drugs which pushers were delivering to their door

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2018/08/30/2-nabbed-for-beating-sexual-violence-in-parma_2aa45622-b031-4100-801c-a5ed69285ecb.html

Italy’s first sex doll “brothel” has already had a flood of bookings;  opens at a secret location in the north-west Italian city;  Rates start at €80 for half an hour with one of its eight individually named silicone models, seven female and one male, which claim to offer clients a “totally new” experience;  premises are composed of mood-lit private rooms, each equipped with a bed, bathroom and TV screen for watching porn

https://www.thelocal.it/20180903/italy-first-sex-doll-brothel-is-already-booked-out-for-weeks

A Ghanian refugees has lost his asylum status after stabbing a police commissioner during an attempted burglary in Catania

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2018/08/31/refugee-loses-asylum-status-after-stabbing-cop_6c95cf32-46bc-4a8e-b9d9-f17a6be19163.html

Italian police on Friday arrested two Tunisians aged 33 and 35 for robbery and sexual assault against a 41-year-old Tunisian woman at Carpi near Modena

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2018/08/31/2-men-nabbed-for-sexual-assault_c7d11142-892c-49b1-b31b-9726567c1569.html

Italy and Malta are in a diplomatic spat over migrant arrivals. Salvini has called out the Maltese government for reportedly refusing to aid a migrant rescue ship which was stranded with 119 migrants onboard in the Mediterranean. “It is not possible for Malta to say ‘no’ to any request for help,” Salvini said. He accused the island of not doing its fair share to take in immigrants.;  Since 2013, Italy has seen more than 700,000 migrants arrive on its shores

https://www.lagazzettaitaliana.com/news-from-italy/8813-italy-and-malta-are-in-a-diplomatic-spat-over-migrant-arrivals

A car deliberately ran over a 70-year-old woman in Rome’s Medaglie d’Oro area on Thursday night, police said;  The stolen car was later found in flames.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2018/08/31/car-runs-over-woman-70_99788d75-c7a2-4c7c-9761-43c79695c8da.html

Italian police on Friday bust a Chinese gang that allegedly robbed and beat co-nationals across five Italian regions;  The five gang members acted with guns and machetes

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2018/08/31/chinese-gang-nabbed-for-robbing-beating-co-nationals_04070c0f-eaa1-43e6-a095-0e341c8dc804.html

167 overdose deaths in Italy so far in 2018, heroin mostly to blame, compared to 195 all last year

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2018/08/31/167-overdose-deaths-in-italy-in-2018-heroin-mostly-to-blame_de196299-7145-4307-bd70-be8526406343.html

Italian police arrested a Moroccan national after finding 120 kg of hashish in his garage near Foggia in Puglia.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2018/08/30/man-nabbed-with-120-kg-of-hash-in-garage_91be8c81-90c2-47aa-8cc7-83143214f866.html

THE EU et al, AND VARIOUS COUNTRIES

EU states losing interest in anti-terror law;  Almost half of member states appear to have shown little interest in implementing an EU law billed as key in fighting terrorism.

https://euobserver.com/justice/142767

THE European Union is paralysed by its own bureaucracy and it is at risk of “deconstruction” according to the President of the French Senate Gérard Larcher. The bloc faces an existential crisis as the European elite is out of touch with citizens’ concerns, he said.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1014511/eu-news-immigration-crisis-migrants-italy-france-macron

TWO Malaysian women convicted of attempting lesbian sex in a car were caned in court watched by dozens of people on Monday, media and a state government official said, prompting an outcry from human rights activists.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1012244/Malaysia-news-sharia-law-lesbian-LGBT

Christianity CRACKDOWN: Violent mob ransacks and LOOTS home church in Egypt – two stabbed;  CHRISTIANS in Egypt are being prevented from practicing their faith as angry mobs continue to target home churches in a violent crackdown against the religion in parts of the country.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1013478/christian-persecution-egypt-coptic-christianity-world-watch-monitor

End of Christianity? Church of England numbers at RECORD LOW – shock survey;  Since 2002, the proportion of Britons who identify as Church of England has more than halved, falling from 31 percent to 14 percent.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1014202/church-of-england-numbers-uk-survey-christianity

France and the three Benelux countries on Thursday (6 September) launched a plan to offer EU funds to African countries in return for help stemming the flow of migrants to Europe.

https://www.euractiv.com/section/eu-elections-2019/news/france-benelux-to-propose-eu-aid-for-africa-in-return-for-migrant-help/

The European Union called today (3 September) for the immediate and unconditional release of two Reuters journalists handed 7-year jail sentences in Myanmar for their reporting of the Rohingya crisis.

https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/eu-demands-freedom-for-two-reuters-journalists-jailed-in-myanmar/

Britain, France, Germany, Canada and the United States pledged on Thursday to work to disrupt “the hostile activities of foreign intelligence networks” and called on Russia to disclose its nerve agent program;  In a joint statement, the other four countries said they backed Britain’s assessment that Russian officers were behind an attack in March on a former Russian spy and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury using nerve agent Novichok. 

http://www.foreigndesknews.com/news/politics/france-germany-canada-and/

Cyprus wants asylum help from EU;  “If these numbers continue to increase, I admit that we will no longer be able to cope with it,” he said. The island-nation of 1.1 million received some 4,000 asylum applications in the first eight months of 2018.

https://euobserver.com/tickers/142747

One in 18 migrants die crossing the Mediterranean as death rate soars amid divisions over EU rescue policy

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/09/03/migrant-death-rate-mediterranean-rises-despite-fewer-crossings/

Lifeboat volunteers were threatened with violence after attempting to rescue a group of drunken children who had entered the sea fully clothed. 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/morecambe-drunk-children-coastguard-lifeboat-rnli-rescue-violence-a8523061.html

DNI]

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1014216/police-forces-close-most-cases-without-a-suspect-being-identified

The Daily Express (UK)

September 7, 2018

Cash-strapped police forces close most cases without a suspect being identified

POLICE are failing to catch the vast majority of burglars, car thieves and shoplifters, shocking figures reveal today. Latest statistics show officers are closing four out of five burglary investigations, three-quarters of car thefts probes and nearly half of shoplifting cases without identifying a suspect.

By MICHAEL KNOWLES

The falling detection rates could “undermine confidence in the criminal justice system and prevent people reporting in the future”, campaigners warned.

And critics fear the alarming figures will give criminals the “green light” to wreak havoc.

Police chiefs say they are being forced to “prioritise” serious crimes amid falling officer numbers and rising demand, but said all offences were taken seriously.

Last year shoplifting reached its highest level since records began, but 47 per cent of cases were closed without a culprit caught. 

Alex Mayes from the Victim Support charity said: “We know these types of crime can have a big impact on victims. While it may be seen as ‘low level’, burglary, especially, is extremely violating.”

Today’s analysis, compiled using figures from Home Office crime outcomes, showed some of the country’s largest forces – with the most officers per head of the population – were among those with the highest percentages of cases closed without a suspect.

Despite nearly 250,000 burglaries between April 2017 and March this year, 81 per cent were shut down without a culprit identified. 

Both the Metropolitan Police and the Manchester force closed 88 per cent of home break-in cases and West Midlands shut down 90 per cent. 

Former policing minister David Hanson told the Daily Express: “These are serious crimes which affect householders, citizens and businesses. The failure to investigate or identify a suspect is something I know the police will be unhappy with.

“But it is a consequence of police not being on the ground.

Vehicle thefts also reached an eight-year-high. 

The UK’s 44 forces logged 106,334 offences of theft or unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle from 2017-18.

All but five forces closed more than half of these cases without identifying a suspect, with 81,788 offences put down as “investigation complete – no suspect identified”. 

West Midlands identified a suspect in just nine per cent of cases while the Met closed 85 per cent of vehicle thefts without a suspect being identified.

Only City of London Police had a higher percentage, 96 per cent – but it recorded just 54 offences. 

The total recorded shoplifting crimes, 382,100, are the highest for an April-March period since records were introduced in 2002. 

But 47 per cent of cases closed without a suspect being traced – a rise of four percentage points year-on-year.

Leicestershire Police failed to find the culprit in 63 per cent of shoplifting crimes, followed by Greater Manchester Police with 59 per cent. 

Labour MP Yvette Cooper, who chairs the Commons Home Affairs committee, said: “Too many investigations are closing without suspects being identified and we are hearing increasing reports of police being too overstretched to investigate. 

“Failing to identify suspects gives criminals a green light to reoffend.”

Deputy Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman, National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for acquisitive crime, said increased demand and fewer officers have led to forces prioritising cases with a realistic prospect of prosecution.

The Met said: “The new Crime Assessment Policy is designed to help officers strike a proportionate balance between resources applied to a secondary investigation and the likely outcome of the investigation. 

“It is not a ‘blanket’ policy that will mean that some crime types will not be investigated.”

Greater Manchester Police deputy chief constable Ian Pilling said: “The reduction in the number of officers we have and the changing nature and complexity of crime means we have to focus resources where they are needed most. With increases in online crime, as well as child sexual exploitation and modern slavery, we have to make tough decisions.”

West Midlands Police said: “Our officers are committed to following the trail of evidence in all the cases, but if an investigation finds no witnesses, CCTV or forensic evidence, the chance of identifying offenders is vastly reduced.”

It has emerged violent crime has soared in rural areas with the fewest police on the beat.

Home Office figures said the number of patrolling officers fell by a third, from 23,928 in March 2015 to 16,557 in March 2018.

Sussex has the fewest bobbies on the beat, with just 8.3 officers patrolling 100,000 people.

‘THEY TOLD ME IT WASN’T SERIOUS’

GRAHAM BUCK was furious when police said they would not investigate the theft of his mobile phone and debit card.

The thief took the father of two’s Samsung S8 and £200 from his bank account after stealing his card in a nightclub last December.

But despite crystal clear CCTV footage of the suspect, Mr Buck, 60, says Derbyshire Police told him it was not a serious offence and they did not have the manpower to trace him.

He said: “I am disgusted. What does it take to get a police officer to show a photo to a doorman and say, ‘Do you recognise this person?’.”

In July, police said they were reinvestigating the crime following Mr Buck’s complaints.

‘I WAS LEFT TO TURN DETECTIVE’

JOHN EASOM was forced to turn detective when police failed to investigate the theft of a £750 gold bracelet from his jewellery shop.

The incident last month was captured on CCTV, but despite numerous calls to Nottinghamshire Police, Mr Easom, 41, claims officers never visited the scene of the crime.

He uploaded the CCTV footage to social media and names for both suspects were soon handed to him.

He said: “[The police] said, ‘If we do not have any leads we don’t investigate it’ – and the reason they don’t have any leads is they have not been here to collect anything.”

This week Mr Easom was finally told an officer had been assigned to the case.

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