Car crime convictions down to 2%

Home Office data has revealed that just 2.12% of all vehicles stolen in England and Wales between July 2022 and June 2023 led to criminal charges.

The information, acquired by Nextbase through FOI request, revealed that in total there were 104,678 reported vehicle thefts, with just 2,215 individuals convicted.

Further analysis of the data showed that the areas where convictions were most likely are City of London (9.38%), Norfolk (7.68%), Suffolk (5.31%), Surrey (5.2%), and North Wales (5.11%).

The least likely places for car criminals to be convicted were Warwickshire (0.94%), Bedfordshire (1.21%), Essex (1.31%), Wiltshire (1.54%), and Hampshire (1.62%).

Meanwhile, the autumn proved to be the period when most thefts take place, with most car thefts taking place in October (9,736), followed by November 2022 (9,392) and September 2022 (9,120).

Bryn Brooker, Head of Road Safety at Nextbase, said: “Criminals would not be stealing this many cars if they had a higher chance of getting prosecuted.”