Interesting Facts

At least £122 billion worth of property in England and Wales is owned by companies registered offshore. (The problem is that some of the world's most notorious criminals are buying Britain's luxury homes to launder crooked cash, and at the same time pushing up the price of property. Especially in the area of London. It all came to light in July 2015, when it emerged that the ownership of 221b Baker Street, home to the fictional super-sleuth Sherlock Holmes, was linked to a brutal former secret police chief accused of murder and money-laundering. What would Mrs Hudson say?) British Houses Source

According to data from 28 police forces in England and Wales, 50% of crimes reported to police are unsolved. (The shocking figures also show that nearly three quarters of cases of theft, criminal damage and arson cases this year were classed as "investigation complete, no suspect identified". This doesn't surprise me in the least.  When we lived in Bristol, we were burgled 4 times, and no one was ever caught, even though the thieves left a knife covered in oily marks that were obviously finger prints.  After that we bought a burglar alarm.)

According to official police crime data 1.8 million people in the UK were victims of street crime. (As more and more people are carrying expensive gadgets like phones and iPads, criminals are now targeting victims in the street. Surprisingly one in five of all incidents occur early on a Saturday afternoon. London, Leeds and Nottingham are the street crime hotspots.)

David Archer is thought to be Britain's most prolific shoplifter. (He has a string of 342 criminal offences, and has now been jailed for 18 months, just a month after he was released from prison on remand. It is claimed that he has 338 previous convictions, 261 shoplifting and theft convictions 13 Asbo breaches over a 48-year criminal career, and has spent 28 years in prison and 39 out of the last 40 Christmases behind bars. It's tragic.)