Theft of mobile phones still a problem

A MOBILE phone is stolen every three hours across the county, an Evening Telegraph investigation has found.

Criminals have taken more than 8,000 phones across Northamptonshire over the last three years, figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show. This works out at about 10 mobiles being taken every day.

Year on year the figure has fallen slightly but police are still warning people to be on their guard and keep their phones safe.

Carl Holt, 20, from Desborough, became a victim when his £150 Nokia phone was stolen in the summer.

He said: "My phone was stolen from the back seat of my car. It was a nightmare because I lost all my numbers and had to wait for a week before I got a new phone.

"And the person who stole the phone made about £30 worth of calls, which then caused a lot of hassle in claiming it back from my network provider."

The figures include phones taken during robberies, burglaries and thefts from cars, mail and work.

In the last three years nearly 2,900 mobile phones have been stolen in north Northamptonshire, which equates to three every day.

The number stolen from the county in that time is more than 8,100, which is eight a day.
A Northamptonshire Police spokesman said: "Mobile phones are a real concern to us because they are among the most common items stolen during robberies. Also, with mobile phones we find they are often stolen when people are out and about."

The police advise mobile phone owners to use them discreetly, be aware of their surroundings while using them and register it with the Immobilise register.

Immobilise is the world's largest free register of possession ownership and searchable register of stolen goods and blocked mobile phones. It is used by members of the public and businesses to register their valued possessions or company assets.

Via an Immobilise account, UK users can record any registered item as lost or stolen and this instantly appears on the Police National Stolen Equipment Database.

This online checking service is used by all the UK police forces to trace owners of stolen property.

The force spokesman said 16,000 county homes had registered with the service and there have been a number of successes.

To register your mobile phone log on to www.immobilise.com

To get your mobile phone insured go to www.mobilephoneinsurance2u.co.uk

Ref: http://www.northantset.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleID=2074985&SectionID=661