People charged for possession of Nitrous Oxide from October 2023 to January 2024

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.034702

I note you seek access to the following information:

1. The total number of people arrested and/or charged by the Metropolitan Police for the possession of Nitrous Oxide with the intent to wrongfully inhale it, since 18 October.

2. Please also provide me with the number of police hours spent in relation to the above activities, and any financial costs incurred by the Metropolitan Police while doing so.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

Q1 - The total number of people arrested and/or charged by the Metropolitan Police for the possession of Nitrous Oxide with the intent to wrongfully inhale it, since 18 October.

Please see refer to the spreadsheet below.

Q2 - Please also provide me with the number of police hours spent in relation to the above activities, and any financial costs incurred by the Metropolitan Police while doing so

The searches did not locate any information relevant to your request, therefore, the information you have requested is not held by the MPS. No separate cost code has been allocated to the investigation of the possession of Nitrous Oxide with the intent to wrongfully inhale it nor do we maintain a central register for the hours worked by staff on individual investigations. Teams will often work across multiple cases at any one time and it is not possible to apportion how much time is allocated to any one investigation.