Despite attempts from police to educate motorists not to leave valuables on show in their vehicles the number of thefts in Wigan is still high. 

During the last three years there have been almost 5,000 reported thefts, figures from a Freedom of Information request have shown. Of these reported thefts there has only been 165 convictions.

Wigan Today report:

Thousands of thefts from cars in the borough happen each year and the latest statistics have revealed that police rarely manage to prosecute the perpetrators.

Figures released through a Freedom of Information request have revealed that there have been nearly 5,000 reported thefts from motor vehicles in the borough, yet only three per cent have led to a conviction and hundreds more could go unreported.

The data, released by Greater Manchester Police, revealed that there were 4,872 thefts from vehicles reported to them between April 2009 and March 2012, yet only 165 convictions.

You can read the full story here. 

Matthew Burgess
http://www.mattburgess.co
I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.