A 300 per cent increase in the price of copper has led to metal theft becoming the fastest-growing crime in the UK. Criminals sell the cable on to scrap dealers who ship it abroad. An epidemic of thefts is thought to have cost British Telecom several million pounds already this year. Last week thieves tore up manhole covers

Labour Councillors have unveiled their Safer Streets pledge which includes the following five key promises: * We will crack down on anti-social behaviour, knife crime and dangerous dogs by closer working with the Police Safer Neighbourhood Teams. * We will use Westminster’s 100 wi-fi CCTV cameras to catch criminals, rather than fine motorists. * We will improve street-lighting and repair dan...

Half of criminals return to crime within a year of leaving prison, official figures have shown.

Inspired by the genius of Banksy and the perpetual, revolutionary words of Bobby Sands. "They will not criminalise us, rob us of our true identity, steal our individualism, depoliticise us, churn us out as systemised, institutionalised, decent law-abiding robots. We refuse to lie here in dishonor! We are not criminals, but Irishmen! This is the crime of which we stand accused. Never will they labe...

Labour is considering making the retention of DNA samples 'an issue' for the election. But if people feel they are being labelled as suspects by the police, even when they are not criminals, then this might make them less willing to cooperate with the police. The police are no longer an extension of 'us', the law-abiding majority, but become an alien power whom many of us fear ...

CALLS for the age of criminal responsibility to be raised to 12 – an issue highlighted by the recent debate over the James Bulger case – have been supported by Scotland&#

Baroness Butler-Sloss, the judge who gave lifelong anonymity to James Bulger's killers, has said that the public should be "more merciful" to child criminals.

Fining motorists should be a lower priority. Westminster's 100 CCTV cameras should be targeted at catching criminals first and foremost, and using the cameras to give parking tickets to motorists should be relegated to a lesser priority, say Labour Councillors. Following the re-switching on of Westminster's 100 CCTV cameras after a Conservative bungle which cost ratepayers and £825...

Majority of thieves and violent criminals jailed for less than a year re-offend within 12 months of release.

Reoffending by thousands of criminals serving short sentences in England and Wales costs up to £10bn a year, says a report.