§ Mr. HORE-BELISHAasked the Postmaster-General what steps were taken by his Department to inform Scotland Yard of the recent mail-bag robbery at the central sorting office of the General Post Office at Mount Pleasant?
§ Sir N. GRATTAN-DOYLEasked the Postmaster-General (1) what system is in operation for the co-operation of the Post Office detective branch and the Criminal Investigation Department of the Metropolitan Police and similar departments of provincial police forces;
(2) if he will state, with reference to the recent theft of seven registered parcels, on what date and at what time his Department became aware that the parcels were missing; on what date and by what means the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police were notified of the theft; whether the Post Office detective service or the Criminal Investigation Department, or both, are engaged in tracing the thieves; and, if both are engaged in the task, upon which is the real responsibility for the conduct of inquiries?
§ Sir W. MITCHELL-THOMSONA bag containing seven registered parcels was found to be missing at 8 a.m. on 31st January, and headquarters, Metropolitan Police, were notified of the theft of this bag by letter sent by special messenger at 10.30 a.m. on 1st February. My hon. Friend will realise that it was necessary, first, to establish definitely that the bag had not been accidentally mishandled, and, secondly, to gather sufficient evidence as to the facts to enable the effective co-operation of the police. My own officers and the Criminal Investigation Department are co-operating in the investigation of the matter and the responsibility for the conduct of inquiries is joint. The Post Office seeks and obtains the co-operation of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Metropolitan Police and similar departments of provincial police forces whenever necessary.
§ Sir N. GRATTAN-DOYLEasked the Postmaster-General how many thefts of mail bags have occurred since January. 1965W 1925; in how many cases have the thieves been discovered; and by whom were the inquiries leading to discovery conducted?
§ Sir W. MITCHELL-THOMSONSince January, 1925, there have been 109 cases of theft of mail bags. In 39 of the cases the thieves have been discovered. The inquiries leading to discovery were conducted by the Post Office staff alone in 18 cases, by the Post Office staff in cooperation with police in seven cases, by the Post Office staff in co-operation with railway police in four cases, by police alone in six cases, and by railway police alone in four cases. The number of mail bags handled by the Post Office during the period in question would be about 100,000,000.