The offence of 'handling stolen goods' in 2023
Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.036025
I note you seek access to the following information:
Please could I request information in relation to the offence "HANDLING STOLEN GOODS" within the Metropolitan Police Services jurisdiction between the 01 January 2023 to 31 December 2023.
I'm interested in data relating to:
- Number of reported offences
- Number of arrests made
- Number of charges
- Number of out of court disposals and
- Number of successful convictions
Decision
I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.
Please find below information pursuant to your request above.
The information supplied incorporates arrest data, recorded crimes and positive outcomes. When considering this data as a whole, it may be helpful to understand the nature of investigations into the offence of handling stolen goods. The majority of investigations will commence as a result of a person or persons being found in possession of property that is suspected of being stolen, resulting in an arrest for handling stolen goods. In some cases, the property concerned will be confirmed as stolen at the point of arrest, while in others there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the property is stolen. The investigation will then seek to confirm that the property is stolen. If it is not possible to prove that the property is stolen then the offence of handing stolen goods is not made out. If the property concerned is confirmed as stolen, it can potentially be in the possession of the individual in one of three scenarios:
- They are in possession of stolen goods as they are responsible for the theft.
- They are innocently in possession of stolen property, i.e. they had no knowledge or belief that the property was in fact stolen.
- They are handling stolen goods
Only the third scenario will result in a prosecution for handling stolen goods, and this may provide context for the data supplied.
Please find below information pursuant to your request above. Please note the MPS do not hold conviction data.